Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“How much longer?” Sky asked as they trudged through a wood.

“Considering we’ve only been turned back three times!” Wind clapped happily, walking along the tracks, “we are making good progress! Once we get out of the forest, we’ll reach the train, and then you can meet all of my friends!”

Wind was really excited, this was the first time they made it to his Hyrule after the initial meeting. He was going on and on about how much they would love his growing kingdom and he couldn’t wait to show them around.

Wild looked at Wind, “what are trains?”

The young boy’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

“They’re these mechanical carriages on wheels that run by setting these engines on fire! They turn the wheels and follow these tracks. They go super fast and they are so cool!”

Wild thought out loud, “like a Divine Beast?”

“They are no way that big. More like if a boat was on land, and it had an engine instead of a sail.”

Wind continued talking about trains, how he was the best engineer in the country (“There’s like five people in this country!” Legend mumbled), when a man stumbled into their path.

Somehow, the group unknowingly made it out of the forest and this man came to greet them. He wore a long blue coat, a blue shirt, and black hair. He also smelled of the sea, if you asked Wind, but smelled like rum to Warriors.

“Link!” He shouted at the child, “where have you been! I thought that that princess of yours was going to wring my neck if I didn’t find you, boy!”

“LINEBECK!” Wind jumped onto the man and hugged him while hanging off his neck. “I missed you…”

The man, Linebeck, put on a smile and hugged the boy back. “Yeah, me too.”

Linebeck made Wind get off him and set him on the ground before pointing at him.

“Now!” He commanded like a captain, “is that anyway to speak to your captain!”

Immediately, Wind saluted, “sir, no, sir!”

“You disappear again and you’ll swab my deck for a month!”

“Yes, sir, Captain Linebeck!”

Wind broke the salute when Linebeck ruffled his hair.

“Now,” he looked at the rest of the heroes, “who are these men?”

“Oh,” Wind smiled, “these are my friends I met along the way. This is Sky, Four, Time, Twilight, Wild, Hyrule, Warriors, and Legend!”

“Weird names, but alright,” Linebeck muttered, “pleasure to meet you, but not as much as it is to meet me. I’m Captain Linebeck, the captain of the best ship in the Great Sea and the domain of the Ocean King!”

Everyone mumbled out a hello.

“I don’t like him,” Warriors grumbled to Four.

“Figures,” Four shrugged.

“What does that mean!?”

“So, where have you been?” Linebeck looked at Wind, “like I said, Tetra has almost every boat out there looking for you. Don’t know why we found you on land!”

Wind looked down shyly, “well, there was some magic involved. Some time travel. I met these guys, and we’re trying to stop a dark evil.”

“So… a normal day?”

“Pretty much.”

Linebeck ruffled Wind’s hair again, “you always attracted trouble. But, is your friend okay? Looks like me when I first stepped on the ghost ship.”

The friend he was talking about happened to be Legend, who’s face looked like he had seen a ghost ship. He was deathly pale with wide eyes that held fear. His mouth was agape more that a monster trying eat a hero.

“Legend?” Wind asked, “are you okay?”

Sky touched Legend’s hand gently, “Legend?”

Suddenly, the color returned to his face and the hero bolted off back into the woods. He didn’t stop as everyone called out to him.

“We can’t go by one week without someone having a break down!” Warriors complained.

“What do you expect?” Four asked, “after all we’ve been through?”

“But does everyone need to run into the woods like some Tingle impersonator?”

Hyrule interrupted Warriors tangent, “should we go after him?”

“I will!” Wind volunteered and turned to Linebeck, “I’ll get Legend and you can take everyone to the castle!”

“Why does it have to be me?”

“Because you couldn’t last five minutes in these woods!”

Linebeck looked at the looming trees and growing fog before shrugging.

“Fine,” he turned around and started marching, waving his hands like crazy, “right this way, landlubbers!”

As Wind started to go in Legend’s direction, Time grabbed his hand.

“Be careful,” Time said in a quiet voice.

“I will,” Wind smiled, “besides, out of all the Hyrule’s, I think mine has the least amount of monsters.”

Time narrowed his one eye, “just keep in mind that Legend as gone through the most adventures out of all of us. He hasn’t shown this side of him, be careful.”

Time let go and started walking after the group.

Wind paused to think of the meaning. Did Time think Legend might hurt him by accident with whatever he was feeling right now. Wind also just assumed that Time knew everyone’s secrets, so maybe he knew something about Legend.

Quickly, Wind marched back into the woods and he followed the sound of someone singing. It was a soft melody, one that reminded him of Malon when she sang to her horses.

Soon, he found Legend, he was in a clearing with a river running through it. He was also singing, but stopped suddenly when he heard Wind coming.

Legend looked at Wind before looking at the water, “what do you want?”

“Are you okay?” He asked, “you ran off suddenly, and that’s not like you.”

Legend sighed, “it’s also not like dreams to become real!”

His tone was angry, which shocked Wind.

“What do you mean?”

Legend scoffed and said in a mock tone, “Captain Linebeck, the captain of the best ship in the Great Sea and the domain of the Ocean King.”

He looked at Wind with dead eyes, “I know a dream when I see one. Your ‘Linebeck’ isn’t real. So, how did you do it?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Wind tried to lie, he didn’t like spreading the fact of Linebeck’s origins. He was real now, and that’s what mattered. “Linebeck isn’t a dream.”

“Of course he isn’t,” the hero tossed a rock into the water, “what did you do to make it happen. Pray to the goddesses? Make a deal? Dragged his nonexistent soul into the living world?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! I met Linebeck at a port on my way to save the Ocean King, he helped me! He’s real!”

Legend suddenly stood up and marched to Wind. He was furious, his eyes showing a madness that Wind didn’t know existed.

“This ‘Ocean King’,” he muttered, “you love telling us stories of your fight with Ganon, but rarely mention your second adventure.”

“Nothing happened,” Wind started to back up, but Legend kept walking, “I just went through a dungeon and broke a curse.”

“Why was he called the Ocean King?”

“His name was Oshus and he controlled a part of the Sea as a…”

“A whale.”

Wind looked up in shock, “how did you-“

Legend grabbed Wind by his tunic’s collar and slammed him against a tree with ease. Wind had the actual wind knocked out of him and he tried to struggle, though, Legend’s grip was dangerously strong.

“I’ve had my fair share with whales and their dreams! Now tell me, how did you bring Linebeck back!?”

It was in that moment that Wind realized his friend was crying.

“Please,” he cried, “just tell me.”

“After I saved Oshus,” Wind explained, “he granted me, Tetra, and Linebeck a wish. Linebeck found out the world was a dream, so he wished himself to be alive.”

“And where is Oshus now?”

“He hasn’t been seen since,” Wind said sadly, “believe me, if I could, Linebeck wouldn’t be the only one alive. The King was very weak, I think he could barely grant Linebeck’s wish.”

Legend dropped Wind at the end of his answer. As Wind fell to the ground, Legend stumbled to the river.

“I just want her back,” Legend cried, tears mixing in with the stream, “I saw him and it was like being asleep all over again.”

Wind walked over to him, “who did you see?”

Legend smiled in a bitter-sweet way, “her name was Marin. She was this singer on an island called Koholit, she wanted to be able to fly and see the world. She wanted to sing for everyone, animals and people alike. I told her I would make her wish come true…”

He sobbed, “but then I saved this thing, the Wind Fish, a giant whale under a curse and I woke up in the middle of the ocean. I thought I went mad and made up the whole thing before researching myths about the whale.”

Legend continued, “I had already lost so much, my family, my normal life. It was too much with Marin. I see her every night, but I just want to see her in the day. I saw Linebeck, I recognized the air around him, I thought maybe there was a way…”

He was silent when Wind decided to speak.

“I understand,” he explained, “in my dream, I didn’t always have Linebeck, but I had Ciela. She was this fairy that Oshus told to journey with me. She was my best friend and I thought we would be together always, but… I’m grateful that I have Linebeck.

“He’s lost someone too, he had this girlfriend, Jolene, and he didn’t realize that she couldn’t come with.”

“Sometimes I wish I never woke up.” Legend spoke, “I’d rather be on that island than anywhere else.”

“But those worlds can’t sustain themselves,” Wind explained, “they are doomed to die out. We just have to be cherish the memories we made, because that’s all they are.”

Legend rubbed his eyes, “memories, that seems to be a theme around here… But what do I do when the only thing I see when I close my eyes is her.”

“We keep dreaming, and enjoy waking up.”

“Why are you one the most mature kids ever?”

“Probably because I stabbed a man in his head.”

“That’ll do it.”

They were silent for a while and they listened to the stream go by. It was peaceful, and Legend felt a weight lift off him that he hadn’t known was there.

Wind, on the other hand, could finally relate to someone. Linebeck never wanted to bring up the dream unless it was about the adventure, not the people or that state of being. He knew that if he ever has a nightmare or freaks out at seeing another fairy, he can go to Legend.

After all, they apparently had the same ‘whale god was put under a curse that only a hero could break in a dream’ quest. Weird how similar they were to each other, yet they were also different.

Wind smiled and broke the silence after a while.

“Should we tell him that Wild’s Hyrule has a landmass named after him?”

“Oh goddess no! I’ve only known him for a short time, but he does not need an ego boost.”

Chapter Text

The wolf was everywhere.

Ever since Link woke up, he’s seen it, following him in the distance. He would hear it howling in the distance, singing its song. Sometimes the beast would be right in front of him, moving its head in a way that seemed like it wanted to be followed.

Link tried to follow, but it was at that moment when monsters or Yiga attacked. Eventually, he realized that the wolf must be an omen of bad things to come, so he started ignoring it.

At night, the howls followed him, and he could see those blue eyes. Those eyes glowed like luminous stones, almost begging to be attacked and scavenged. The light kept him awake some nights, and Link tried his best to block out the creature.

Until one day…

He was resting in his house when his horse started to make a fuss in his miniature stable. He walked outside to see what the issue was, but all he could see was his horse bucking in rearing. He tried to calm her down, but to no avail as the horse became wilder, bolting out of the stable, dragging Link along with her.

“Hey!” Link shouted as he was forced onto the horse’s back. He attempted to pull the reigns, but nothing could stop her. The horse sped off into a weird path on the edge of cliff before it finally slowed down.

Then, a howl.

The horse reared at the noise, knocking Link off into a lower path. He stood up quickly to see his horse running back where they came. He was too busy worrying to notice the stones around him start glowing in the haze of twilight.

“The long day has finally come to an end,” a voice from behind him spoke, “and it seems the sun and moon can finally meet once again.”

Link turned around to see the thing he feared most, the wolf. It was sitting there calmly, eyes shining with the stones, and then it shifted.

A glow like the spirit embers he saw on the king and Mipha surrounded the wolf and spread out to reveal the shape of a man. He was wearing black armor with a spiky helmet and shield. Along the armor ran designs that reminded Link of the Sheikah tech, as the style was similar and the color the same. Between the chest plate and greaves, Link could see an aging skeleton. Add that to the spiritual aura, Link was fairly certain this man was dead.

“Who are you?” Link asked as he pulled out his sword.

The man took note of his weapon, a common traveler’s sword that has certainly seen better days.

“You have not reclaimed the Blade of Evil’s Bane,” the man spoke.

“Who are you?” Link repeated.

“I am a shadow of a shadow,” the man spoke, “the lasting light that dies in the darkness, a soul caught in misery and yet remains. To put it simply, I am a Hero’s Shade.”

Why is everyone in Hyrule cryptic! Link screamed in his mind.

“What do you want with me?” Link still kept his guard up, “you’ve done nothing but lead me into monsters. Are you with the Yiga?”

The Shade scoffed, “they attack you when we meet because they fear what I can do. I can teach you how to defend, attack, and destroy every trace of Ganon.”

At the mention of his enemy, Link’s eyes flared. The Shade nodded in understanding.

“I fought him thousands of years ago,” the Shade continued, “so did my predecessors.”

Link paused, “you- you’re the hero from ten thousand years ago!”

The Shade shook its head, “I am from even farther back. Something happened after me, to cause what is now called the Calamity, the most dangerous form of Ganon yet.”

“What can you teach me?”

“Every move the spirit of the hero has ever learned,” the Shade stabbed his shield into the ground, sticking it there, and revealed his impressive looking sword. The sword looked like a royal guard’s sword, but more massive and lacking the scarlet markings, while being covered in luminous stones. “So?”

Link said nothing and readied his stance.

“Then let’s begin.”

They fought through the night, the Shade demonstrating a move and Link repeating it. They were mostly silent, with the Shade every once in while pointing out of mistake. Eventually, dawn came and the Shade sheaved his weapon.

“It is time for me to go,” he said, almost sounding melancholy, “we will meet again as you advance in your quest.”

Link nodded and whistled for his horse to come get him. As she galloped towards him, the Shade started to fade into the sunlight.

Deciding nothing of it, Link climbed into his saddle and whispered to his horse. It was time to face another Divine Beast, so it was onward to Death Mountain.

As the hero rode away, the Shade smiled under his helmet.

“I will always be with you, cub,” he whispered and turned into a wolf once again to follow the hero from a distance.

--

Over the course of Link’s adventure, he met the Shade more times. They barely spoke unless Link asked a question himself. He tested this sometimes by asking about the Shade’s journey. Link learned that the Shade learned his attack through his journey and had a companion who helped him.

One day, he asked a question that gave the Shade pause.

“Why are you teaching me?” Link asked while practicing something called the ending blow, “did you also teach the hero before me?”

It was rare when Link actually struck his teacher, but the question distracted him, allowing Link to stab him through the non-existent abdomen. The Shade phased through and stood up.

“No, I didn’t,” he answered the second question first, “I barely have any knowledge of that hero.”

He sighed, “we have a connection, I have met you before, we were friends.”

Link’s eyebrows knitted together, “you knew me 100 hundred years ago, didn’t you?”

“Something like that,” the Shade replied, “you’ll understand in time. But besides that, the last time I saw you, I knew the world had left you to your own devices, which made you both alone, weak, and” -he smiled- “wild. I had the power to help you, so I decided I had to.”

The sun rose up and the Shade was already disappearing, “you are ready, go and face Ganon. We will meet again someday.”

It was then that the Shade took how his helmet to reveal a skeleton, which dusted away to show an old man’s face. The face was around his fifties, with graying short hair and the eyes were still a fierce blue. It was that moment that made Link wonder how he died.

“I wanted to see you one last time,” he smiled and the light around him dimmed, “go and do not falter, cub…”

With that, the Shade vanished, and nothing left of the age-old spirit remained but a few luminous pebbles falling to ground, which now had an everlasting shadow of a wolf.

--

It wouldn’t be months after defeating the calamity that Link learned the meaning of the Shade.

One day, while Zelda was away with Purah, he heard a knock at his door. He answered it and that started a new journey. He met living legends of heroes all named Link, this time none of them skeletons. He was given the name Wild and he enjoyed the company of people like him. Everything was fine!

Except for the nagging sensation that one of the group would be the Shade in their future.

Age wise, there was no telling. From what he learned from the group, he was at the very end of the timeline by thousands of years, so any one of them could’ve been it. He marked out Wind, who he could never be the series figure of the Shade, Four, who would never be that tall, Hyrule, who didn’t look much for fighting tactics, and Sky, who was far too cheerful and maybe too far away timeline wise.

That left, Legend, Warriors, Twilight, and Time. Legend had a huge arsenal and many adventures, Wild never found out if those adventures included a companion and turning into a wolf. Warriors did have a companion, a fairy by the name of Proxi, and he wore armor, though it didn’t look like the Shade’s, and was somewhat serious. Twilight had some kind of pelt on his back, but that was barely any proof, but he had mentioned someone who had left him after his journey.

Time, on the other hand, was at the top of Wild’s list. His armor was incredibly similar to the Shade’s, he was just as cryptic, and his wife told them that they were looking for a friend of his, a fairy. Time started his journey early into his life, so he must’ve learnt his abilities during his quest.

As he watched Time to see any evidence of his theory, Wild noticed Twilight also watching him. Once they crossed eyes, coming to a silent agreement that neither of them tells Time that they were watching him. What Twilight’s reason was, Wild couldn’t be sure.

Over time, Wild learned to ignore the nagging, pushing the thoughts to the back of his head. Perhaps the Shade wasn’t a part of their group, there was more than nine heroes after all, if legends were to be believed. Maybe the Shade missed the curse train and was resting in his own time.

Wild grew closer with everyone, learning their mannerism and becoming friends. He became closest with Twilight, who shared his longing for old friends, and Warriors, a man who, despite his looks, liked wild battle strategies. Everyone got nick names on top of nick names, like Wind being called sailor from Warriors and Legend being called Rat behind his back. Even Time started calling Twilight pup, which Twilight was mocked to no end for, but it barely registered in Wild’s mind.

But then Twilight called him cub.

“What did you say?” Wild’s head snapped up to look at him.

Twilight immediately brought his hands up, “I’m sorry, I won’t call you that. It just slipped out.”

“It- it’s fine,” Wild calmed his racing heart, “it just caught me by surprise.”

Please don’t be him, please don’t be him! Was running in Wild’s mind, he didn’t want any of his friends to die in their fifties, when Hylians at least die around 100. Maybe it was fluke, maybe it was a coincidence. Besides, it’s not like Twilight had any other connections to the Shade.

That was until a very familiar wolf walked into camp and fell asleep near Twilight’s things. While Wind was saying how cool it looked, Wild’s mind was crashing and all he could see was luminous stones in dusk.

Chapter Text

He had died. That was for certain. He saw the fires burn around him, heard the call of his name, and he collapsed. He could feel his breathing slow and the darkness surrounding him.

He was dead. Nothing should’ve brought him back to life.

Until he saw light. And later, was thrown into an adventure. He met others with his name and story, made friends with them.

This was indeed an adventure! A fun quest where everything was light hearted, but still had a serious goal. Unlike his challenge, which was harsh and strict.

But… none of the others had died. At least, he thought so, as he couldn’t rule out Time. None of the other heroes brought up dying until they asked about his scars.

“Where’d you get them?” Legend asked one day.

“I died,” he answered, “but was brought back to life with magic, the scars are a remnant of that.”

They all nodded and went on with the day. He was enjoying himself, though, and he hoped it would never end.

Things started to change about a year into their adventure, they had traveled through seven of their Hyrules, only excluding Sky’s and his. He was fine with that, he didn’t want to see the world where he died. Sky’s world on the other hand, they didn’t know why they haven’t been there.

Anyway, they were camping on the edge of some forest when a wolf walked into their area. He was immediately on guard, pulling out his sword and pointing it at the beast.

“Wild!” Time shouted, “what are you doing?”

“There’s a wolf!” He pointed out.

Warriors rolled his eyes, “that’s just your mutt Wolfie!”

The wolf growled at the captain, who glared in return. Concerned, the wolf padded over and looked at him.

“Oh,” he set down his sword and the memories came back to him, “Wolfie. Sorry, guys, I must be tired.”

“Sleep,” Hyrule told him,” I’ll take care of the food tonight!”

There was a chorus of groans as he thanked Hyrule. He went to his tent and slept, but not before thinking.

Why did he forget Wolfie, who is secretly Twilight? Was he really just tired or was it something else?

It was only going to get more weird and worrying.

The next thing to happen was when he forgot where he left his Sheikah Slate. He swore he placed it on his belt like always, but maybe it fell off.

It was a couple hours later when he was running ragged trying to find it when Time and Twilight came back from fishing. They found him a mess, almost crying, and tearing the camp apart.

“Cub,” Twilight put down their fishing poles, “what’s wrong.”

“I can’t find the slate!” He calmed himself down, “it should’ve been on my belt, but it’s nowhere!”

“Cub,” Twilight pulled something out of his pocket, the slate! “You gave use the slate this morning so we could find fish. Remember?”

He did not. And that scared him. Why didn’t he remember? Why didn’t he remember giving away something that he would die to protect?!

He faked a laugh, “my bad. Must have slipped my mind!”

“Are you okay,” Twilight asked in a low voice.

“Always,” he smiled through gritted teeth.

The next week, he wore something strange. Wind was the first one to point it out.

“Where’s your tunic?” He asked innocently.

“My what?” He pulled at his travelers tunic, “this is a tunic.”

Wind pursed his lips, “I mean your blue one!”

“My blue one?” He said slowly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Did you actually hit your head?” Legend snarked, “this is the third time this has happened. First, Wolfie, then your slate, now you don’t remember your tunic, which you wear everyday!”

Again, it all came back to him in a flash. He shook his head.

“I thought you were talking about my some of my other clothes that are also blue,” he lied, “if you’re talking about my champion’s tunic, I had to wash it.”

“Bull!” Legend spat out, “the only person here dirtier than me is you. You would rather jump in a lake than wash your clothes. What’s going on?”

He then proceeded to ignore Legend for the rest of their time in that Hyrule.

What ever was happening wasn’t serious until a couple of weeks later. At that point, he had had multiple slip ups, forgetting a name here, not recognizing something there, and soon he was learning to ignore them. Whenever he forgot, he simply pushed it out of his mind and acted like everything was normal.

That is, except for the time when a brand new person was walking around the group. He was short, even shorter than Wind, yet he carried a sword and acted like a grown up. He was chatting with the other heroes, so he assumed he was a friend, but he didn’t know who he was. He certainly wasn’t going to ask.

Just act normal, he told himself, it will come back to you, just act normal.

“Wild!” The new kid waved to him.

Just act normal, just act normal, justactnormal, justactnormal, justact-

“Hey,” he smiled, “what are you doing.”

“I told you we would take a look at your weapons today,” he explained, “see why they’re so fragile.”

“Sounds good,” he nodded, “what do you want to do.”

The kid looked him in the eye for a good minute, not moving at all.

“What are you doing?” He asked nervously.

The kid frowned, “you aren’t looking at me directly. The others have told me about this, but please tell me it’s not true.”

“What’s not?”

The kid sighed, “what’s my name?”

Panicking internally, he made an educated guess. If he is hanging out with them, and has apparently talked to him before, then he must be a hero. There was only one name he could have.

“Link, of course,” he scoffed, “what else would it be.”

“My nickname, Wild,” the kid put emphasis on Wild, making his words very clear. When he said nothing, the kid got his answer.

“Twilight,” the kid said softly, “he doesn’t remember me.”

There was a scramble as Twilight stood up and all the Links looked over to see what was the matter.

“Please, no,” Twilight said in shock, “Wild, you remember Four, right?”

Four. His shirt had four colors. He had four elemental patterns on said shirt. He was about four feet tall. Four.

“Four,” he said aloud, “Four. Four. Four. Four.”

“He’s losing it,” Warriors declared, but they could tell he was worried.

“This is bad,” Sky held the Master Sword, probably asking for information.

“Wild,” Twilight kneeled down in front of his ward and held his hands, “it’s all right.”

“What is wrong with me,” Wild nearly cried, “why can’t I remember?”

He pulled his hood over his head, covering his face and his tears.

Four, meanwhile, stood still, a look of worry on his face. He didn’t know what to do or say when one of his friends had looked at him and saw nothing.

Time addressed the group, “we’re going to look for food or monsters. C’mon.”

There was a slight call of annoyance, but no one refused. They all grabbed their weapons and headed out, except for Wild and Twilight. Four faltered before running after them.

“It’s okay,” Twilight hummed, “it’ll be alright.”

“Why can’t I remember, Twilight?” Wild covered his face with his hands, “I didn’t recognize you as Wolfie, now I don’t know who that even is!”

Twilight smiled bitter sweetly, “that was Four, the Hero of Minish, Men, and the Four Sword. He may be the shortest, but he’s way older than Wind. He’s a smith and his greatest mission right now is figure out why you keep breaking weapons.”

He laughed, “that’s never going to happen.”

There was silence.

“I still don’t remember him.”

“I know, maybe it will return like the other things did.”

He doubted it. Four’s distraught face was already fading from his mind.

Four, he chanted in his head, Four. Four, Hero of Four, Four. Friend, Four. Four. Three. Two. One.

He fell asleep that night and his memories would never be the same.

Morning came and the only question on his mind was who were the two short kids sword fighting at the camp. He would be glad to forget the reaction he saw on the kid in blue’s face when he told them he didn’t recognize them.

“Wild,” Wind was already crying, “it’s me, Wind.”

“Who?”

It got worse and worse from there. In the following weeks, he had to be explained to each morning who everyone was and what they were doing. Each hero had to explain their adventure to him and assure him that he was indeed their friend.

The order, or so they told him, that he forgot was the young boy named Four, another kid named Wind, the knight Warriors, the homeless looking one named Legend, the only brunet in the group named Hyrule, someone they all swear is the Hero of Time, and, finally, a squire named Sky. The only person he could remember was Twilight, who didn’t know whether this was a blessing or a curse.

He woke up one morning in a tent and saw Twilight.

“What are you doing here, Twilight? I thought you had your own sleeping place.”

Twilight made a tiny smile, “we need to talk.”

Ten minutes later he exited the tent with a years worth of info dumped in his head. He was forgetting everyone? These were his friends? He shrugged it off and chose to believe his friend.

Three of the heroes were chatting he saw, and Twilight soon joined them. They all had grim faces and they kept glancing towards him. Nervously, he avoided their gaze.

He felt something at his side in that moment, like a small weight made itself known to him. He looked down and saw some brown and blue glowing contraption on his hip. He thought this thing, whatever it was, was the Princess’. He should probably ask Twilight where she was so he could give it back before she skinned him alive.

He butted into the area where the four heroes were discussing. He bowed low to the one’s he recognized as a squire and knights.

“I’m sorry, sirs,” he said in a pained voice, “but may I ask Twilight a question.”

One of the knights, the eldest in the group, sighed, “of course, Wild.”

“You don’t have to call us sirs,” the other knight grunted, “you’re also a knight.”

Really? Strange what he had forgotten. Remembered that he was holding something of the Princess’, but not how he got it or even knew her.

“Twilight,” stood up straight, “where is Her Highness? I believe this is her’s.”

“Her Highness?” Twilight looked down at what he was holding out, the slate, “Wild…”

“Yes?”

“That’s yours, the Princess gave it to you.”

“She would never do that, it means too much to her. Where is she?”

“She, Wild, we won’t see her for a while, you should keep the slate.”

He shook his head and forced the slate into Twilight’s hands, “she wouldn’t want me to have it. I would ruin it somehow, so please give it to her when you see her.”

Twilight couldn’t respond, except for saying, “of course, Wild.”

He nodded his thanks and walked away back to his tent. He was missing something, something that the slate was replacing. He was missing something…

His sword! He sped up his pace at the realization. He had a sword, right? That’s how he knew the Princess, he pulled the sword and she hated him for that. Now, where was it? The King would kill him if he lost the blade of evil’s bane.

He accidentally walked into a different tent than his when his question was answered, as the sword he could faintly recalled was laying carefully on a pillow. He smiled and went to reach it. But, as he grabbed it, he felt a burst of clarity, like a thousand lives were pouring into his brain at once.

The next thing he knew he was outside on the ground and surrounded by everyone.

“What happened?” The kid in blue shouted.

“The Master Sword burnt him!” The squire stumbled out, “she wouldn’t do that for no reason, though.”

The world was spinning for him, until it came into focus when Twilight entered his view. The burst of clarity came back, but much more milder, and, for the first time in months, he properly looked at his comrades faces.

“Twilight,” he winched at the burning on his hand and he connected the dots, “I’m not a hero anymore.”

“Don’t say that!” Twilight snapped, “you are one.”

“If I can’t remember,” he looked at all their faces, names vaguely coming to mind, “how can I be a hero. She doesn’t want me anymore. I didn’t save everyone. I can’t save anyone.”

“That’s not true!”

“Twilight,” the squire said. Sky! The name came back for a moment. “She, Fi, she says, he’s no longer strong enough to wield her.”

“I told you,” he cradled his hand, “good riddance, though.”

“That sword can go and shove it!” Twilight hissed, mentally reminding himself to apologize to Sky later.

“Guys,” he tried to sit up, “the burn, I think it has fixed my mind for a little while. I have to tell you something before… before I forget you all for good.”

“It’s alright, Wild,” the knight, Time, forced him to lay down on the pillow that they placed under him.

“I haven’t been honest,” he continued, “when I said I died and was brought back, I lied. I died, but then I woke up here, with all of you. I half thought this was the afterlife.”

“What are you saying?” The short one, Four, asked.

“I don’t know how I’m here,” he explained, “I should be dead. Maybe that’s what this is. I’m dying finally.”

“That’s nonsense!” The homeless- Legend snarled, “you are not dying.”

“This has been the best year of my life,” he ignored him, “I will miss you all.”

The last thing he saw was Twilight’s concerned face.

Darkness surrounded him and it never left. Even when he woke up in the morning, he was in a hazy mist. He found a group of eight boys and men and he only had two questions.

“Who are you? Who am I?”

Come nightfall, he disappeared from the camp and wouldn’t be found for a long time.

At the same time, a female voice was carried over the plains, calling out to him to open his eyes.

Chapter Text

When they could never find Wild, they assumed the worse. Twilight, who knew him best, figured he was telling the truth: he had died.

They had a funeral, but not a traditional one. They stood over a rushing river and dropped something of Wild’s into it as a way to finally say goodbye. No one mentioned the disappearance of Wild’s slate, which vanished from Twilight’s things at the same time as Wild. They all said a few words, and, since they couldn’t do anything else, they moved on.

Physically, not mentally. Physically they traveled still and helped citizens, but mentally they were tired. Their feelings were best described by Legend’s opinions on anyone’s food.

“It’s not Wild’s,” he threw his bowl away in anger, “I would rather eat nothing but apples than eat something that isn’t his.”

They were angry, they were annoyed, they were sad. As all of them were knights, or at least familiar with the crown, they put on a strong face and acted like all of Hyrule was watching them. Heroes never change.

—

“Who’s land is this?” Time asked, scanning the horizon.

There was a chorus of ‘not mine’ and Time glanced at them.

“None of you?” He grunted, “then this must be a new world, which means…”

“New hero!” For the first time in weeks, Wind smiled.

“Don’t get too excited,” Twilight put his hand on the boy’s shoulder, “we don’t know for sure that there is a hero here.”

Inside, all of them were hoping for a new hero. Maybe they would liven the group up and bring their number back to nine. It was only a matter of finding them.

A week later of countless walking, they were directed toward a town called, something about a hero living there. Entering the town, they were stopped by a guard.

“Halt!” The guard, more of a villager with a pitchfork, commanded, “state are you? Who your business”

The heroes looked at each other until the guard realized his mistake.

“I mean… who are you?” He collected himself, “state your business!”

“We are travelers looking for the hero,” Time answered, “we were told he lived here.”

The guard smiled, “you’re looking for Link? He isn’t home right now, but I saw him walking to the lab up there!”

He pointed to the only building on the cliff that was glowing blue and smoking. The group thanked him and made their way up there.

“Be careful of those scientists!” The guard called after, “they’ll probably blow you up.”

“We can handle it,” Legend waved off the concern, “I’ve dealt with enough of Ravio’s ‘inventions’ to be immune to explosions.”

Strangely enough, the guard wasn’t exaggerating. Because as soon as Time knocked on the lab’s door, it blew up in their faces, smacking into Sky and tossing him down the path. Everyone was covered in soot except for Legend, who still looked like himself.

“How!?” Hyrule coughed out.

Legend shrugged, “fire proof clothes and magic. Again, Ravio is way worse.”

“Nice going, Symin!” A young girl’s voice shouted from within the lab, “you blew up some nice strangers!”

“That wasn’t me,” an older man’s voice replied in exasperation, “that was the Princess!”

“There you go again blaming the innocent Princess!” The smoke cleared so they could see inside the building to see two people arguing. Out of nowhere, a girl popped into view, face covered in smut, and smiling widely.

“Terribly sorry,” she apologized, “that explosion was supposed to be contained inside the lab, but we didn’t take into account that the slightest movement on the door could cause it to be just in the radius of the blast.”

“It’s all right,” Time assured the girl, “we were told we could find the hero here. Is that true?”

The girl frowned, “he’s not here. Please forgive me for not introducing myself, I am Zelda. And you are?”

“You’re Zelda?” “You’re the Princess?”

Varying faces of shock were displayed by the heroes at the thought of this being the Princess of this world. A girl with short hair, covered in ash, and looking like a mad scientist. Wind immediately decided she should not meet Tetra with her cannons.

“Yes, technically, I am,” Zelda gave a small smile, “but I am not focusing on leading until everything settles down after the attack. But please do not address me as such, I am simply Zelda.”

“Well, Zelda,” Twilight started to speak before his eyes drifted to something she was holding, “what is that?”

Everyone’s eyes looked at the Sheikah Slate that was clutched in her hands. It, like her, was blackened, but there was no mistaking the glowing eye.

“It’s the Sheikah Slate,” she smiled proudly, “a piece of ancient tech that can do wonders! But I promise it’s nothing like the guardians. Perfectly safe!”

“How- how did you get it?” Twilight stuttered, “the last person wh- you! That means your…”

He stared at her face, which was starting to look concerned.

“You’re his Zelda, aren’t you?”

“Who’s Zelda?” She asked, “I’m the only Zelda in the country.”

“You’re telling me we came here now?” Four groaned, “after that happened! After he…”

The group immediately got depressed at the idea that they were now in Wild’s Hyrule, but without Wild. Here was his Zelda, who didn’t know what they were going through.

“Excuse me?” Zelda poked Warriors, “can any of you tell me what’s going on? If you’re here about Link, then you missed him a while ago. He left on a trip and I haven’t seen him in a while. He was supposed to arrive yesterday, but he’s late.”

It was at that moment when Sky finally made his way back up the hill after being blown up. He was huffing and looked at all the sad faces.

“What happened?” He asked. Four leaned over and explained to him.

Twilight swallowed and looked at the Princess, “we need to talk to you.”

Zelda agreed to talk to them, closing the lab door after she told her companions what she was doing, and they sat down. One explanation later about who they were and what happened, she was shaking her head.

“I believe who you are,” she pointed to Twilight and Time, “you both look like your murals and you, Wind, we have a replica of your blue tunic. But, Link, he isn’t dead!”

“He is,” Twilight urged, “he told us himself that he was dying.”

Zelda refused to listen, “he’s an idiot! He wouldn’t know death if it killed him! If he’s dead, how did he give me the slate after he saved me and still have it with you? If he was with you, then why would he start forgetting again?”

Twilight shrugged sadly, “I’m sorry…”

She lashed out, “if you did actually know him, then you know that he wouldn’t just die without a fight.”

“But it wasn’t a fight that killed him,” Wind protested, “he told us that he died and was brought back to life and it was finally catching up with him.”

She froze, “wait, what? What exactly did he say?”

Hyrule was the one to answer, “uh, he said that he died and then woke up with us. He thought it was the afterlife.”

Strangely, the girl, after frowning for a second, smiled. With a sigh of relief she spoke to the heroes.

“I think there’s been some confusion, then. Link was dead, and he was brought back to life.”

“We know that-“

She raised a finger to cut off Legend.

“But he was only brought back after being put in the Shrine of Resurrection,” she explained more after seeing the blank looks on their faces, “a chamber that healed him after death. The important thing to note, though, is that it took 100 years for us to heal him, and even that wasn’t perfect. He came out with no memories!”

The gears in Twilight’s head started turning, “you don’t mean?”

She nodded, “the slate disappeared as well? The Shrine ran on the slate working, Link took it with him when he woke up.”

“Please don’t give us hope,” Four begged.

She ignored him, “for some reason, while Link was being healed in the Shrine, his body and the slate appeared with your group. He spent a compressed 100 years with you and he started forgetting. When he disappeared, he was actually waking up from his resurrection.”

“You’re saying then,” Twilight slowly spoke, “that Wild is alive.”

“Of course,” she smiled confidently, “it is the only reasonable explanation for these contradictions. Besides, if he was dead, why is he coming up the path?”

The Links all turned as fast as they could to see a cloaked figure on some machine ride up to them. The figure jumped off the machine, pushed past the group, and ran up to Zelda.

“Zelda!” A familiar voice cried, “I’m sorry I’m late, I have an excuse, though! You see, the Rito were having problems with lynel attacks somehow, so I had to help and… I got this!”

The figure pulled a jar of golden bugs and handed it to her.

“You got all twenty of them!” She gasped excitedly, “these are so rare! Imagine all the experiments we can do with these.”

It was then that the figure turned around, noticing the group, who were all staring in shock.

He looked different. His hair was longer and the scars we more healed than before. His outfit changed to have a brown chest plate and black sleeves. He smiled more and had a different air around him. Still, there was no denying this was him. This was Wild, alive and well.

“Wild,” Twilight had tears in his eyes. Not able to control himself, he rammed into him, pulling him into a hug. In less than a second, Wild was buried under eight other heroes.

A moment of uncomfortable shifting occurred for Wild before he spoke.

“I’m sorry,” he pushed them off and moved closer to Zelda, “but who are you.”

The heroes faces showed heartbreak, but they weren’t surprised that he didn’t remember them. At least he was alive.

“Link,” Zelda put a hand on his shoulder, “these people knew you from the past 100 years.”

“Oh,” his demeanor changed to be much more sour, “I apologize, but I don’t remember you.”

“It’s alright, Cu- Link,” Twilight smiled, “we’re just happy to see you again.”

In the coming months, the Links were content. Wild never regained any of the memories from before, but he agreed to travel with them again. They met each other once more and made new memories.

So, same old, same old for Wild. It was strange. He was enjoying himself, though, and he hoped it would never end.

Chapter Text

Legend was feeling nostalgic, but be didn’t know why though. He was staring wistfully into the distance with a glassy look in his eyes. Maybe it was the ocean.

They were in Wind’s world, currently on the coast of an island that he apparently owned. It was a tropical island with one single building and a pond in the middle. Flowers were blooming everyone, with one flower in particular growing in the bushes: a hibiscus.

That’s what it is, Legend figured out with a frown on his face. He leaned onto his fist, Wind’s world was a lot like the island.

Ever since he had his freakout over seeing Linebeck, him and Wind started sharing looks. More like Legend was glancing at Wind, wondering when he would spill his secrets. He had always been distrustful. He had to be, after all he had been through.

During his glances, Legend realized something about Wind. He reminded him a lot of her, of Marin.

He was from an island and wanted to explore. He might not have had a singing voice, but his conducting was quite literally magical. He was a free spirit and seagulls would hang around him. The blue he wore was reminiscent of the dress she wore and their smiles were equally bright.

If Marin and him had a kid, this is what they would be like, he thought out of nowhere.

In that moment, his mind crashed. Why was he thinking this? Why was Marin back on his mind? He thought he had moved past this.

He sighed, ever since talking to Wind, he thought he was fine with being awake. But, sleeping had become hard, so he didn’t often sleep. That caused a cycle of him being annoyed and sleep deprived, which made him think of why he wasn’t sleeping, which would cause him to not sleep more.

Maybe forgetting and moving on wasn’t a straight line thing. He had to pick himself up, move forward. Keep waking up.

Wind was right.

He shook his head, no use dwelling on the past. He stared at Wind, who was currently laughing and pushing people into the pond.

“Hey, Wind!” Legend got up and yelled at the hero.

“What’s up!” Wind bounced over.

“So, you’re a sailer right,” a nod, “have you ever made your own boat.”

“No,” he scrunched up his face, “but I’m still an amazing sailer!”

Legend ruffled his hair, “a boater who can’t build boats? Preposterous! Come on.”

Legend walked down the the surf and found some fallen logs.

“What are we doing?” Wind asked.

“I’m,” he paused, “I’m teaching you how to build a raft.”

“CAW!” Right then, a seagull landed near them. Legend looked fondly at it and turned to Wind.

“What about it?”

“Yeah!”

Legend smiled and he could almost feel Marin with him once again, but, this time, he wasn’t as lonely as before.

Chapter Text

It was official, Legend thought, every version of Hyrule sucks. Except his. Wait, no, scratch that. His Hyrule was exceptionally terrible as well, he just had pride for its terribleness.

They were now in Warriors world, which was very hard to discern as his world looks like four of their worlds in certain parts. They didn’t even realized they left Wild’s until they appeared deep in Warriors’ Faron Woods, with their more unique trees. Once they realized where they were, they were immediately attacked.

“WARRIORS!” Legend shouted as a black mist surrounded them. “What is this?!”

Warriors tried to answer as the mist took the form of a lady devoid of color except for her red eyes, “she knows we’re here!”

“Who?” Twilight asked, raising his sword.

“Cia,” Warriors glared at the Dark Cia.

“Oh!” Wind gasped, “you mean the weird lady who wants to date you?”

He groaned, “in essence yes. In case she already doesn’t know who you are, don’t use your names until we defeat this. Should be as simple as stabbing it.”

The Dark Cia smirked at the comment. It crooked its finger at them in a mocking manner, almost daring them to attack. One of them, maybe Wild, moved slightly, setting off the creature. It grabbed its staff and slammed it into the ground. More black mist appeared where the staff hit and starting spewing into the air, filling up their sights.

“What’s it doing?” Time demanded.

“I don’t know!” Warriors brought up his shield, “these have never done this before.”

And then they were engulfed. Legend saw nothing but inky darkness and was coughing on the mist.

“Guys?” He called out, reaching to find someone. Strangely, his voice seemed muted and the ground felt different. It was no longer as soft as the dirt was, but a hard, wooden floor.

And then his vision returned, and Legend found himself thrust into… his house? He couldn’t explain it, but this was his house. By the looks of it, it was his house a little bit before he left to go on the current adventure. It was after Ravio cleaned out most of his stuff, but before he gave permission for him to rent again.

“Magic,” Legend groaned, he could almost taste it, “illusions are so creative!”

To test out his illusion theory, Legend poked what would’ve been his house’s door. As he suspected, his hand phased right through, but not before feeling somewhat like a door.

“Alright,” he pointed his sword in every direction around, “I’m ready!”

“Leg- hey!” He felt someone touch his shoulder. He turned to see Four, with fear in his eyes. “There you are! I can’t find anyone else.”

“Jeez,” Legend raised an eyebrow at the worry in his voice, “it’s just an illusion of my house, why are you so worked up?”

“Your house?” Four grabbed his hand, “this doesn’t look like a- house?”

In that moment, both of their views flickered. Four saw a split second of the home in question. Legend, meanwhile, saw a courtyard and a statue of a princess sitting on the lawn. The wind was blowing and someone was laughing in the background.

They two let go of each other and neither could see the other.

“Four!” Legend cried, back in his house, “where’d you go? FOUR!”

He waved his hand around and connected to someone else. His vision changed again to reveal Wild standing in front of him and empty blackness surrounding them. There was a faint blue glow coming from somewhere.

“Wild,” Legend held onto his wrist guards, “what’s going on?”

He wasn’t responding. Wild had a blank look on his face and he was staring off into nothingness.

“Wild!” With his free hand, Legend slapped Wild. In shock and confusion, Wild back away, releasing Legend’s hold. Then Legend was back in his house.

“What?!” He was starting to get annoyed. Why was everyone acting so weird?

“Legend!” A voice from behind shouted and he felt a hand on his back. Turning around, he saw an annoyed Warriors. Once turned around, Warriors tried to remove his hand.

“No!” Legend forced Warriors into holding hands, “apparently we can only see each other when touching, I’ve already lost two.”

Warriors frowned before nodding, “ran into Wind and Sky.”

“But since no one else has been answering my questions,” he glared, “what is happening?!”

Warriors snarled, “I don’t know. This hasn’t happened before.”

“Well, figure it out before that thing attacks!” Legend screamed before something interrupted him.

“Mr. Hero?” A familiar voice asked.

Confused, Legend turned around to find him, another version of him, laying on his bed, with Ravio sitting next to him. The other version of him was reading a book of some kind, idly flipping through it.

“This is you and Ravio?” Warriors asked.

“You can see it?” Legend’s eyes went wide, “Four saw a castle or something.”

“Hmm, Ravio?” Link glanced up.

Ravio fiddled with his scarf, “thank you for letting me stay here. When you could’ve just kicked me out.”

He shrugged, “it was just pity. Couldn’t leave you to the monsters, now could I? Where would I buy unreasonably priced products!?”

Ravio laughed.

Link flipped through another page, “but say, when are you going back to Lorule?”

Ravio’s face fell, “do you want me to leave?”

He sat up straight, “I didn’t say that!”

The bunny’s ears popped up, “does that mean you want me to stay!?”

Link fell off the bed, scrambling away from the idea of friendship, “I didn’t say that either!”

“Mr. Hero!” Ravio cheered, “you care about me!”

“Look, let’s get this straight,” Link stood up, picking up his book, “while I would never, ever, recommend your shop, your prices are horrendous and your costumer service somehow worse, I…”

He scrunched up his nose, “I wouldn’t buy my tools from anyone else.”

Suddenly, Link was being hugged by a crying Ravio.

“You’re my best friend, too!” Ravio cried. Link, meanwhile, unsure of what to do, had a faint smile on his face and hugged back.

Legend, on the other hand, felt his heart stop. As an onlooker onto his own life, he felt immense fear at what he saw and wanted to leave immediately. It was made worse when he realized who was with him.

“You!” Legend turned around and pointed at Warriors, “don’t you ever tell anybody about this!”

His house faded away in the background and was replaced with a night time army camp. Tents surrounds them and a fire was smoldering nearby.

“About what?” Warriors put a hand on his hip, “the fact that you have a single friend. I know everyone would be so shocked to find out.”

“Don’t.” Legend paused for emphasis, “tell. Anyone.”

Warriors opened his mouth to retort when, like before, the illusion stopped him. They both turned to see a slightly younger, less battle-hardened, Warriors trying to keep a fire alive.

“C’mon!” Link grunted as he struggled with a flint. He was lucky he was mostly alone, as all the soldiers already went off to bed. “Light, damn you!”

“Hero,” a voice came from the darkness and settled next to Link. It was a Sheikah soldier with golden blond hair, “you should sleep.”

“In a moment, Sheik!” Link shot back and went back to trying to light the flint, “just let me do this.”

“You’ve been up since three in the morning,” Sheik stated, “and haven’t had any rest. Sleep, I’ll take care of the fire.”

Sheik tried to remove the the objects from Link’s hands, but he held on tight. Sheik glared at him.

“Hero…” the Sheikah looked like he wanted to slap him, “this is childish!”

Link’s body stiffened before loosening immensely. His hands opened up and Sheik was able to get the flint. He grabbed it and started up the fire again with no problem.

“What is wrong with you today?” Sheik asked absentmindedly, “first you insist on taking first shift, then you throw yourself into battle, now this. You’re lucky I don’t tell the General about this- Hero?”

He stopped talking when Link clasped his hand. Sheik looked into his dead-shot eyes and saw tears forming.

“Do you think we’ll find the Princess?” Link asked in a small voice. Never, in all their time together, had Sheik seen him like this.

“Why, yes,” Sheik said slowly, “it is our duty and mission to serve her Highness, which entails finding her. Now, what is this about, Hero?”

Link covered his face, “I know I shouldn’t act like this, but… it feels like this war has been going on forever. There’s no end in sight with time travel on their side! And, I don’t especially feel like a Hero when I can’t even find the Princess. I have to be the Hero, though, I have to set the example! So, just let me do this!”

He took in a heavy breath, “I need to be able to do something.”

All was quiet. Sheik was facing an internal debate with himself about whether to tell him the truth or not.

Not the time, he chided in his mind, soon.

“We’ll find the Princess,” Sheik repeated, “and I’m sure she would want us to be well rested when she sees us again. You can take my tent if yours is not set up, Her- Link.”

Link cleared his tears away and put on his front. In a split second he was back to his soldier mode, cold and unfeeling.

“Not necessary,” he shook his head, “but thank you, Sheik. I will be prepared at dawn for the strategy meeting like always.”

And then the memory faded into darkness.

Legend looked to Warriors, who shared a reaction similar to that of him in the dream.

“Don’t say anything,” Warriors growled roughly.

“What?” Legend replied sarcastically, “don’t want people to know that Mr. Pretty Boy ruined his makeup?”

“I’m serious!”

“You didn’t seem to care when I said the same thing! And what is going on!”

Warriors was about to retort when he thought of something. Realization dawned on him as his eyes went wide.

“She’s trapping us!” He shouted, “this is just a distraction to keep us occupied until she shows up.”

“Distracting us with what exactly?” Legend groaned, “random memories?”

“No,” Warriors corrected, “our worst memories. Our biggest fears…”

Legend scoffed, “really? Your worst memory, your biggest fear, is you crying in front of a comrade? That’s pitiful!”

Warriors snapped back, “you’re one to talk! Your worst memory is of you hanging out with your friend. What? Are you so afraid of being friendly with anyone?”

“There’s more to it than that!” Legend tightened his grip.

“No,” Warriors tried to move away, “you’re afraid of companionship. That is weak!”

“And you’re afraid of being weak!” Legend screamed.

Suddenly, Warriors managed to escape, vanishing from Legend’s line of sight.

“You!” He looked around, the vision now becoming a beach, when he was suddenly punched in the face. Warriors appeared for a second and then disappeared. “Get back here!”

He threw his own punch and it landed in Warriors guts. The vision merged to reveal a room full of paintings of Warriors.

“Egotist!” Legend growled.

“Selfish!” Warriors grabbed Legend’s arm and flipped him, “do you know what the others are seeing? Something a lot worse than a hangout.”

“Yeah,” Legend kicked out Warriors’ legs, “I bet it’s also worse than you being unable to light a fire!”

A punch. The sound of a harp. A punch. A soldier’s barrack. A punch. A man in a blue cape. A punch. A Dark Link.

Both of them were getting tired and getting nowhere. All they were doing is making it easy for Cia to capture them when she arrived.

“This is pathetic,” Legend huffed with a weak smile on his face, “goddess, we are pathetic.”

“Yeah,” Warriors returned the smile, “we are. The others are probably afraid of actual things. Here we are, afraid of ourselves.”

“Tell no one about this?”

“Of course.”

“Second I think you’ve done otherwise, I’ll legit stab you.”

“Likewise.”

“Cia’s behind you.”

“WHAT?”

Indeed she was, the real one. But they quickly defeated her and regrouped with the other.

“So,” Hyrule sat down hours later, looking traumatized, “did any of you see anything interesting?”

There was silence. A few looked at each other. No one would talk about this day after this, but some of them left with more knowledge of each other.

Chapter Text

“This,” Four smiled brightly as he looked at the house in front of them, “this is my world!”

Ever since meeting everyone, Four hadn’t been back to his time, so this was something special. Four beamed and gestured for them to follow him.

“I want to show you my grandfather’s forge,” he lead them to the door, “well, he says it’s mine now, but I haven’t been able to use it for obvious reasons.”

“Nice place,” Time commented as they walked to see an old man sleeping in a chair.

“Grandfather!” Four shouted suddenly, causing the old man to stir.

“L-link!?” Grandfather Smith bolted out of his slumber, “what are you doing here? You should be working!”

Four smiled sadly, “I told you that I had some business. I’ve told all our costumers so far that we aren’t taking orders and the Princess said she’ll pay to take of you while I’m gone.”

He looked to the group, “he’s old, losing his mind a bit. Grandfather, these are the people I have been traveling with.”

He introduced all of them, each Link giving a kind reply to the old man.

“Why!” Grandfather Smith beamed, “Link, you’ve never had more than one friend before. Why haven’t I met these boys sooner?”

Four flushed in embarrassment when he heard Legend chuckle. Hypocrite, he thought, since he knows for a fact Legend’s only friends are his sister and Ravio.

“There wasn’t... time,” he answered, “but we’re here now! Do you need help with anything?”

“Nonsense,” the old man huffed, “I am not making you or your friends work. It’s time to do what guardians are meant to do for their children.”

Four already knew what was coming, “please, no.”

Grandfather Smith smiled mischievously, “why don’t you boys indulge me as I share some photos of my grandchild!”

“No!” Four could’ve died right there as all the Links cheered.

“Oh, absolutely!” Legend smirked, “I need to know if he was always this short or if he actually grew.”

As much as Four protested, his grandfather got up and pulled some photos out from a drawer. They were all old and fading, minus a few, but the subjects were easy to see.

One of them was of a baby in the arms of knight and a women in common dress. They were smiling like the baby was their greatest joy in the world.

“Link’s father, Sir Leon of the Royal Guard,” Grandfather Smith explained, “and my daughter, Link’s mother, Kris Smith. Leon died in the line of duty to... I can’t remember. And my Kris, she died to disease.”

“We’re sorry for both of your losses,” Time put a hand on the old man’s shoulder.

The grandfather shook his head, “we’ve moved on! Right, Link?”

Four smiled, “I know I am making them proud. A knight like my father and a smith like my mother.”

Grandfather Smith nodded, “I know they are watching out for us.”

He moved another photograph on top of the one of Four’s parents. This photo showed four identical looking boys, though with four different color schemes. The red one was on the shoulders of the blue one, both smiling. The green one held his sword digging into the ground with a hand on his hip. The purple one carried a book in his hands and was staring at his shadow.

Something was also off with the purple one’s shadow. It had a spot in the head that looked like a smile. The outline was also much more sharp than a normal shadow.

Weird.

“Grandfather!” Four shouted, “not this one, please!”

He was waved off, “this was taken right before you left last, right? I miss these boys, though I know they were you. What ever happened to your shadowy friend?”

A dark chuckle filled the room that only Four could hear.

“He never left,” he then begged, “please, they don’t know about them.”

“Alright, son,” he sighed.

“Wait!” Wind frowned, “who are they? Are they you’re brothers? What shadow friend?”

“Nothing!” Four snapped, “they’re gone and that’s all you need to know.”

Moving onto the next photo, Four was a child. One could tell by his babyish face and the fact that he was sucking his thumb. He strangely looked like Wind when he was younger.

He was wearing his green clothes already when he was toddler. So, some of the Links thought it was just pajamas. He was snuggled underneath his blankets in his bed and he was cuddling with his hat, which had a strange end to it.

“That,” Sky said slowly, “is the cutest thing I have ever seen.”

And the dam broke and all the Links cooed over the adorable baby Four who used his hat as a doll.

“What’s with it looking like a weird bird?” Wild asked, “it’s the same shape you have now, but bigger.”

“That’s not a hat,” Four took the photo and stared at it kindly, “that’s Ezlo, he was cursed to take this form and he asked for my help. He impacted my life a lot, so I like to honor him.”

“And you slept with him like he was your childhood pet?” Twilight raised an eyebrow.

Four groaned, “give me a break! I was only four.”

“What?” Warriors interrupted, “what did he need your help for?”

Four shrugged, “to stop the Wind Mage: Vaati. Only children could see him and other creatures properly, and I just happen to meet him a-“

“Hold up!” Warriors growled, “you became a Hero at, at the age of...”

Four glared, “what’s the problem?”

“That’s too young!” Warriors complained.

Four shouted back, “I was the only one who could help. I am called the Hero of Four for a reason!”

“I thought that was for something else,” Wind said.

“You shouldn’t have had to fight,” Warriors barked, “the reason I do what I do is to make sure children aren’t on the battle field!”

He took a sharp breath, “but it seems I always fail at that.”

He glanced at Time, at Wind, and finally to Four. Without another word he left the house.

All the Links stared at the door that slammed shut. The old man sighed.

“I’m sorry, Link,” Grandfather Smith apologized, “I just wanted to reminisce. It’s the only way I can remember anything.”

“It’s not your fault, Grandfather,” Four shook his head.

“Still...” He put on a fierce glare, “take these photos, please. Remind you of home and where you came from. And how you grew up fast into a wonderful man.”

Four took the stack of photos, “thank you. I’ll be back, but we should find Warriors.”

They ended up finding him next to a glowing portal, which he was staring at with a urge that was begging to jump through. It would only take him to the Palace of Winds, though, and he would quickly have had to return.

“Warriors,” Four and the other Links walked up to him, “I’m sorry, but in the early days of Hyrule, children were practically adults as long as they could fight for themselves. As the son of a smith, I learned how to fight and-“

“It’s still not right,” he barley looked up, “I’m sure Time agrees.

Time nodded, “while I didn’t start as early, I know what it’s like for your childhood to be ripped away. It is a curse that I would wish upon no one else.”

There was silence.

Slowly, Four admitted, “the Hero of Men. That was a strange thing to name a child.”

More silence. Four was almost begging to split apart on the inside. Until, someone else said something.

“I was 16,” Twilight spoke, “but that was still a child in the eyes of my county.”

“16 as well,” Sky added, “that was the age we could be knights.”

“I started when I was 12,” it was Hyrule. Wind nodded along.

“I was nine,” Time admitted, “but that is debatable.”

“8,” Legend said softly, “I wasn’t even supposed to have left the house. I was looking for my uncle...”

“How!” Warriors cried, “why so young?! I was a page when I was seven, but nowhere near actual fighting. I was 18, an adult who already sighed up to be in the army. Why did the Goddesses choose children?!”

Then, Goddesses forbid, Wild spoke.

“I pulled the sword when I was 12,” he said slowly, “but, I was being trained as the Hero when I was 1 and a half, from what I was told.”

Warriors bit his cheek, “what?!”

Wild shrugged, “I don’t know all of the details. Just that a prophet said I was the Hero, and as soon as I could walk I was being trained. I could take down a squadron at age four and an army at six.”

“That,” Twilight growled, “that is so wrong, on so many levels.”

Four, record beaten of being the youngest Link, was now the one to get angry, “could you even hold a sword then?”

“I was taught dexterity and agility for the first few months,” Wild answered, “apparently I never learned to talk because that was age that children learn. That’s why I was silent for most of my life.”

Warriors looked like he himself could take on an army, “who ordered that!”

Wild frowned, “probably the King, or the prophet, I’ve heard rumors that they were a person in high standings.”

“If I ever meet your King I am sending his to the Twilight Realm!” Warriors declared. Twilight looked like he wanted to protest, but he couldn’t argue with the intended point.

“He’s already dead,” Wild smiled morbidly, “payed for all his mistakes in the ultimate way.”

“Why are you so nonchalant about this?” Four asked, “I admit, it’s weird that I was a child, but only a child could do what I did. You, you didn’t even need to fight anyone until your were 17!”

“I trained,” Wild looked down, “for nearly 16 years and I still failed. Clearly, I should’ve started training as soon as I was born.”

“No!” Warriors waved his hand, “that is clearly not your fault. No one can live that way and still be sane by the end of it!”

Wild smiled, well, wildly, “I’m pretty sure I am not sane. Besides, I don’t remember it, so what’s the harm?”

Warriors slammed his head into a tree, “why do none of you get it?!”

“Warriors,” Four looked at him, “you had the unique situation of signing up for this voluntarily-“

“I actually signed up for this, too!” Wind cried in the background.

“We’ll talk about that later,” Four replied, “but the point is, this is our lives. We lost our innocence so that others didn’t have to.”

“Was it worth it?” He asked.

Four paused, “sometimes yes, sometimes no. I helped many people and saved their lives when no one else stepped up. I also met people that will be apart of me forever, but...

“I also lost people, I lost time. I spent most of my life helping others that I honestly don’t know what to do with my life! For the most part, my Hyrule is peaceful, but I can’t live without fighting now. It’s all I’ve known.

“Wild,” Four looked him, “you want to be a baker?”

“Uh,” Wild looked shocked at the question, “yes?”

“Time,” he pointed to Time, “you work on a ranch. Twilight, same to you. You, Sky, you’re founding Hyrule. Legend and Hyrule, you are adventuring still. Wind, you are founding New Hyrule. Warriors...

“You are a commanding officer in the army,” Four saluted, “you have all found your ways in life after fighting. But, now my fight is finding my own path. It doesn’t matter anymore the age or time lost, but what we do afterwords.

“So, regardless of when I started, I am seventeen now. An adult in the eyes of Hyrule. I am an official knight of Hyrule and I am an one my way to finding what I want in life. I think...”

He stared at the sword of Sky’s back, “I think I’ll prepare for future generations. Give you a boost for when you all become Heroes, so you can have a little more time yourselves.

“There’s a certain sword in a sanctuary that I think could be a little sharper.”

Silence for a third time.

“That is the most you have ever talked at once,” Legend pointed out.

Four shrugged, “so, what do you say, Warriors?”

Warriors stood up straight, “it’s still wrong, but I understand why you had to do it. And when I meet the Goddesses when I move on, I will have words with Farore.”

Four chuckled, “you just haven’t ever fought a god and you want to know what it’s like.”

“I’ve fought a false god if that counts,” Warriors joked.

Slowly, the usual happy energy returned to the group. After a while, Four asked something from Wild, the same request he had heard so long ago.

Four stared at the photos in his hands, that was joined with a newer one of the nine heroes. He smiled fondly of it, looking between it and the photo of Red, Green, Blue, and Vio.

“I hope one day you guys can meet them,” Four thought, “you would get along.”

He pulled out another photo, this one of just a shadow on the wall. It looked like a mistake to the common eye, but to him it was his best friend.

“One day.”

Chapter Text

They were back at Malon’s. Wild and Time were preparing food, Wind and Sky were messing with the cuccos, Legend and Warriors were staring at them in horror, Four and Twilight were with the horses, and Hyrule had nothing to do.

Overall, a very normal day at Lon Lon Ranch.

Malon, meanwhile, was writing on some papers as Hyrule watched her.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

She sighed with a forced smiled, “taxes.”

“What are those?”

Malon look at him with disbelief, “have you never payed taxes before?”

“What do you pay them for?”

“Mostly for stuff you buy and the house you live in.”

“Malon, I live in a cave.”

“Oh,” she laughed at how dead Hyrule talked about his living situation. The worst part was that she couldn’t tell if he was joking.

“But why do you pay them?”

“It’s for the government to be able to pay for things, like roads and Link’s salary,” she explained, “but, you know what this reminds me of?”

Behind her, Time sighed, “not this again!”

“Hush!” She smiled, “you see, when I was first taking over the ranch and doing the paperwork, Link came home from his service with the knights one day and asked me what I was doing. It turns out he had no idea that we had to pay the government.”

“In my defense,” Time walked over, “I am exempt from paying them, but no one ever told me that. So, I had no idea that I was supposed to be doing them if I wasn’t passed over.”

“But that’s not the best part!” Malon cried, “because that conversation took a couple of turns and I fount out-“

“Stop.”

“-that Link-“

“Darling...”

“Can’t read!”

And then Malon was taken over by a fit of laughter. The very idea that the Hero of Time, her Hero, couldn’t read would never not be funny to her.

Meanwhile, Wild paused in cutting his vegetables mid-chop and listened in.

“It’s really not that funny,” Time rubbed his forehead.

“On the contrary, fairy boy!” Malon slapped him on the back, “the look on your face when you told me looked like my father when he saw a cucco!”

At that moment, Legend and Warriors walked back in. They were covered in feathers and scratch marks. Clearly they had angered Sky.

“Wind and Sky are playing with the hell-spawns,” Legend growled and then saw Malon dying of laughter, “what’s so funny?”

“Time can’t read,” Hyrule explained. He didn’t care that much. He was shocked, sure, but that’s only because even he knew how to read basic sentences. His Hyrule didn’t even have books!

“What?” Legend was not expecting that, “seriously?”

“He’s joking right?” Warriors raised an eyebrow, “you don’t know how to read?”

Time gestured to the sky, “I grew up in the middle of the woods and I was raised by immortal children, do you think I went to school?!”

“But,” Warriors stuttered, “you never learned after that? In my Hyrule, every knight must know how to read.”

“I’m a special case,” Time pointed out, “beside, I don’t think her Majesty realizes how much I didn’t know of this world when we met. No one explained this stuff until Malon.”

“But it’s reading!” Warriors protested.

Time shrugged, “I haven’t had to read once.”

“That’s because I or someone else reads for you!” Malon pointed out, “it ain’t like I didn’t try to teach him. He was stubborn and said that his line of work didn’t require him to read.”

Again, the door opened, and in walked the final four Links. Wind and Sky were also covered in feathers, but not scratches. Four and Twilight were covered in sweat and sat down at the table.

“What are y’all talking about?” Twilight asked.

“Time can’t read,” Hyrule repeated.

“Let everyone know, Hyrule,” Time said sarcastically, “I don’t think you told Ganon yet.”

“You!” Four pointed at him, “the Hero of Time, the only full grown adult in the group, can’t read.”

“Born. In. A. Forest,” he glared, “raised. By. Children.”

“Who else here doesn’t know how to read!?” Four raised his hands into the air.

At first, no one raised their hand, but then Wild slowly put down his knife and raised his. Twilight looked at his ward and shook his head.

“Cub,” he gave a small laugh, “how?”

“Ironically,” Wild answered, picking up the knife and waving it around, “you guys are the ones to forget that I have amnesia.”

“Amnesia doesn’t usually affect reading,” Four scrutinized.

“Head injuries do,” Wild replied, “and I just never had time to relearn.”

“You carry like six diaries on you at all times,” Twilight pointed out, “but you can’t read them.”

“Yes.”

“Why?!” Twilight asked, “how do you know what’s in them?”

Wild’s face burned red, “I had someone read them to me.”

“Oh,” Legend smiled, “he’s thinking about her diary! That must’ve been fun if your Zelda was the one reading it.”

“Shut up!” Wild shouted, “it wasn’t Zelda, it was... prncsdn.”

“What was that?”

“Prince Sidon read it to me!” Wild said quietly, “not that it matters.

Four spoke before Legend could think of a retort, “okay, I can understand you. But, I don’t think all of you are being truthful.”

He walked over to Malon, who had regained her composure, and gestured to some of her paper.

“May I?” He asked politely.

“Please,” she smiled, “this has been the biggest laugh I’ve had in a while.”

With a small thank you, Four grabbed some paper and a quill. He quickly jotted some words before holding it before everyone.

“What does this say?”

“Uh,” Legend put his hands on his hips, “we all have different languages.”

“Spoken!” Four argued, “for the most part, our written language has stayed the same. Beside, I’m not asking for a perfect reading, just one word.”

He moved it in front of Sky, “what does this say?”

Sky whispered it into Four’s ear and he nodded.

“Thank goodness, Sky,” he sighed as did the same to Warriors, “I was about to loose faith in this whole group.”

As he went along the line of Links, all was revealed. Sky, Warriors, and Four could read perfectly. Wind, Hyrule, and Twilight struggled.

“Small community with no schooling,” Twilight explained, “I’m only learning because I’ve been offered to be the next mayor with Bo retires.”

“I only learned how so I could read Aryll stories,” Wind beamed, “and Tetra is forcing me to learn more so, quote, ‘that New Hyrule doesn’t have idiot for a King’.”

“I live in a cave,” Hyrule waved away questions about how he learned in the first place.

“Now,” Four looked to the last Link, Legend, “what does this say. You can say it aloud now that everyone knows what it says.”

“This is stupid!” Legend protested, “I can read and I don’t have to prove it to you. I knew what was in one of Wild’s diaries!”

“Legend,” Warriors jabbed him, “I read that diary first and then told you. That’s not proof.”

“If you can read,” Four said, “then what does this say?”

Legend snatched the paper from Four’s hands and glared at it. The letters danced around, mocking him. Eventually he crumbled it up and threw it into the nearby fire.

“I can’t read,” Legend crossed his arms, “so what.”

Four gaped like a fish, “but you’ve been on so many adventures!”

“Yeah, I’ve been to five different countries, do you think I could keep that many languages straight?”

“You’re sister is the Queen!”

“Believe me,” Legend smirked, “she hates it. But I was stolen away until I was eight, and then I had adventures until now. There was no time for her force me through schooling. Lucky me.”

“I,” Four stuttered, “I hate you all.”

“Aw,” Legend cooed, “that’s not nice.”

Four growled, “that’s it! Warriors you take the knights and the idiot, I’m taking the country bumpkins. We’re teaching you all how to read properly!”

“I can bring out my old children books,” Malon suggested, half joking, half serious.

“Please.”

“Wait, did you call me an idiot? That’s royalty your talking to.”

“Not my time, not my monarchy!” Four yelled.

“Do I count as a country bumpkin?” Hyrule asked.

“You live in a cave, that’s the country.”

“What do I do?” Sky raised a hand.

“You’ll be helping with dinner since Wild can’t read.”

“I can finally make you guys pumpkin soup!”

“This is cruel, Four,” Wind whined, “forcing us to learn and now no food of Wild’s.”

“Shut up before I make you eat a book.”

Chapter Text

The sky was red, and Wild almost thought they were back in his time. The calls of monsters screeched into the night sky and the moon was being blocked by the trees. It had all the signs of being a Blood Moon.

“Where-slash-when are we?” Legend asked, “anyone grow up in the apocalypse?”

He sighed as he noticed Wild, Hyrule, and Wind all raise their hands. It was a hyperbole for Hylia’s sake!

“This is my Hyrule,” Time answered with a grunt, “as to when, I have an estimate, but not a place in time.”

“What does that mean?” Sky stretched over to Twilight.

Twilight shrugged, “some cryptic nonsense. Could mean anything from this time shouldn’t exist, or he forgot.”

“Or he’s messing with us on purpose,” Wild whispered, quieting down when Time glared at him.

“There’s two possibilities of where in time we are, and neither are good,” Time answered.

“That still makes no sense,” Wind pouted.

“Just tread lightly, this is a very dangerous time, and it’s best if we get out of here as soon as possible. Right now, we are on the edge of the Lost Woods. Follow me.”

Without having much else to do, the group listened and followed Time as he took random paths through the trees. The Lost Woods were a fun place to traverse.

After a while, Time’s ears flicked, hearing a very faint sound. He immediately pulled out his sword and looked up at the branches.

“What’s going on, Old Man?” Warriors groaned.

“Quiet!” He hushed.

Suddenly, three blades shot out from the tree line, just barely missing Warriors and lodging into the bark behind him.

Time looked at the blades, recognizing them. He pulled one out and pocketed it.

“He’s here,” he said in a low voice.

“Who?” Four asked.

WHIZZ! Three more blades flew into Four, pinning his hood to a tree. Another trio attacked Wind, latching onto his tunic flaps.

Time growled, “Sheik! I know you are there, come out!”

“Sheik?” Warriors himself looked at the knives, noting their familiarity, “how do you know-“

Warriors was interrupted by an almost silent thud. In front of them, and blocking their path, was a man cloaked in dark clothes and who’s face was covered by a scarf. Only a singular red eye could be seen between his baggy blond hair.

“Who are you?” Sheik growled, preparing to attack once more, “this forest is under the protection of the Sheikah!”

Time almost wanted to laugh, of course he wouldn’t recognize him. He almost didn’t pick up on the tell-tale signs of the ninja until it was too late. Maybe he was getting slow with his age.

Warriors, instead, did laugh, “you’re not Sheik. My Sheik would’ve never been caught like that. Maybe don’t dress like a Sheikah if you can’t be one.”

Warriors, Time sighed internally, you are going to die.

Sheik seemed to take that as a challenge. With a glint in his eye, he disappeared in a puff of smoke, curtsy of a deku seed. Warriors, without having anytime to react, found himself lying on the ground, a knife pressed to his throat. The rest of the Links stood at the ready, wary about scaring the person holding their friend’s life in his hands.

“Maybe don’t dress like a knight if you can’t be one,” Sheik spat in his face before turning to the group, “if any of you come any closer, your friend may soon join his arrogant ancestors!”

“Warriors!” Wind cried in alarm.

“It’s alright,” Warriors grinned at the masked figure, “I’ve been in tougher jams.”

Time approached slowly, taking note of a new knife pointing in his direction. He never did learn how Sheik held so many weapons on him.

“Sheik,” Time said in a soft voice, one that no one had heard him use before, “it’s me, Link.”

Immediately, some sort of recognition flickered through Sheik’s eye, which widened drastically. He looked him up and down, taking note of the blond hair and Ocarina of Time at his hips. Eventually, though, he shook his head.

“Nice try!” He huffed, “but then where’s the Master Sword?”

“Right here,” Time gestured to Sky, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there, “but it’s a long story.”

“Then!” Sheik refused to believe, “why are you this old? The Hero should be in his teens!”

Time pointed to the Ocarina, “time travel, as you well know.”

“B-but,” Sheik stepped away from Warriors, clinging to his scarf, “but the Hero should- he should be in the Sacred Realm.”

“Sheik,” Time said calmly, “how long has it been?”

“S-seven years,” he nearly cried, “nearly eight.”

Then, something in the ninja broke. Sheik fell to his knees and started to sob. Wind ran to Warriors and made sure he was alright, and the others stared at the stranger with concern.

“The Hero of Time is dead!” Sheik confessed to the confusion of most of the group, “why are you here? Is it not enough, Ganondorf, that you took my family, my life? Now, are you making me mad?”

Everyone flinched at the name of their mortal enemy. Time crouched in front of his old companion and spoke.

“I am here,” he smiled, “after all, I know something that the Thief King doesn’t”

Silently, Time started to blow into his instrument. A song most of the group recognized, but some could not place, played. The song seemed to have meaning to Sheik, as he stopped crying to listen.

“H-how?” He asked, “no one knows, but Impa, and she’s...”

“How did the Hero of Time die?” Time asked.

With a shaky breath, Sheik replied, “after he entered the Temple of Time, as instructed, Ganondorf ambushed and killed him. We didn’t learn of his defeat until one year ago, when Impa was slain.”

“In my time,” Time responded, “we succeeded. You helped me, revealing yourself when we fought Ganondorf.”

“We succeeded?” He asked in wonder, “you lived?”

“Yes.”

“My biggest regret,” Sheik gently touched the Ocarina, “is that I forced the weight of the world onto a child. And that child was crushed.”

He looked him in the eyes and hugged him, “I’m so happy you’re alive.”

There was quiet as the two embraced each other. Everyone else, on the other hand, were confused about what was going on.

“Do you know what’s happening?” Legend leaned over to Warriors, “I mean, after you got your butt kicked.”

Ignoring the last bit, Warriors answered, “I think this is the timeline where the Hero of Time died and that’s the last remaining force of rebellion to Ganondorf’s rule. We are now in your timeline.”

“My timeline?” Legend frowned in disgust, “this, this is where it happened?”

For the first time, Legend was silenced by the connotations of what he witnessed. This was the beginning of Ganon’s rule, the only reason he even existed.

“What can I do now?” Sheik mumbled to Time, “all the sages have fallen, the Kokiri are in shambles and the Zora have scattered. I am the last fighter, and even then I’m not able to do much.”

“There’s still hope,” Time scowled a little, “if I know one thing about the gods, they refuse to let Hyrule die. Let me introduce you to someone.”

Legend slowly backed away as Time guided Sheik over to him. Sheik looked way less threatening when his eye was red from crying and not from the color.

“This is the Hero of Legend,” Time introduced, “in how many years, he, along with Princess Zelda, will be the one to bring down Ganon’s rule.”

“Nice to meet you?” Legend raised an eyebrow. What was he supposed to do?

Sheik looked him over, “you saved Hyrule? I am sorry my burden fell onto you.”

“It’s no problem,” he lied, “I was born to be a hero.”

Sheik shook his head, “Princess Zelda you say? So, the Royal Family lives on.”

“If only we knew where this time’s Princess Zelda was,” Time hinted.

“Were you always this sarcastic,” Sheik bit.

“Honestly?” Time smiled, “yes.”

Sheik smiled softly, “I guess my plan is set. I am fleeing with rest of the survivors to the farthest reaches of the country. One day, we will take back the kingdom.”

Sheik wiped away his tears before remembering something.

“So,” Sheik turned to the rest of the group, “who are these. And why is that squire holding the Blade of Evil’s Bane?”

“I’m a knight!” Sky protested.

“These are all reincarnations of the Hero,” Time explained, “that is the Hero of Sky, he founded Hyrule with the very first Zelda.”

“Oh,” Sheik’s eyes widened and he bowed, “my lord, it is an honor to meet you.”

“Uh,” Sky blushed red, “please don’t do that. You’re a Sheikah right? I met one before and she acted like you did.”

“Impa’s ancestor,” Sheik nodded, “the one who guided Hylia reborn.”

“And the one you nearly killed is the Hero of Warriors.”

“Next time learn when you are out of your league,” Sheik snapped at the captain.

“I just happen to also know a Sheik,” Warriors waved his hand, “but I wonder if *she* shares the same secret as you.”

With a glare back, Time introduced Sheik to the rest of the group. Sheik complemented Twilight as a good descendant of Time’s and told Wild to cut his hair. He recognized Four from the legends and said hello to Hyrule. When he met Wind, he bowed deeply and apologized for making him fight, just like he did to Legend.

Once that was done, Sheik smiled at something.

“Link,” he demanded, “there’s someone you have to meet before you go and before I flee. She has been waiting for you since you left to the Sacred Realm.”

Sheik pulled out his harp and played a few short notes. Quiet bells and a ringing filled the forest, as a soft blue light appeared in the trees.

And, for the first time since he left the Sacred Realm, Time felt like he was home.

Chapter Text

Legend took pride in many things: his ability to run through a dungeon in ten minutes, the size of his arsenal, or his experience. He knew many languages, with the help of a book that he found, and was the equivalent of an ambassador with how many times he saved foreign countries. But, the thing he prided himself most on was the fact that he was not the Hero of Time.

For the majority of his life, he had heard the stories of the Fallen Hero, the Last Hero, the Dead Hero, or, just simply, the failure. In his time, the name was cursed and spat on so much that the original title didn’t remain. No one wanted to honor the person who failed to save the kingdom.

As a child, he heard ghost stories and fables from neighboring adults. He shouldn’t act like an adult when he was a child, because that was what the Hero did. He shouldn’t play in the woods, that’s where the Hero’s from. He shouldn’t wear green, those are the clothes of someone who was weak.

His uncle on the other hand, tried his hardest to change his mind about the Hero. He said that him failing wasn’t the Hero’s fault, and there was no reason to hate him. He tried his best, especially at a young age.

So, his uncle taught him all the things adults knew. He took them on hikes through the woods. He made Legend wear a green tunic and matching cap.

Legend didn’t listen. He acted his age as a teenager, stayed near towns, and red was way more his color. He rose from the ashes of the fire that the Hero started. Why should he care about the man who caused him, and his kingdom, so much pain?

So, he prided himself on succeeding where the Hero of Time didn’t.

One thing he didn’t expect was meeting him. Ironically, he was a little bit in awe of *the legend* that was Time. Everything he thought he would be like was the opposite.

“My name is Link.”

He was modest, not even using his title to introduce himself. He was a common rancher instead of living it up in a castle. Legend chalked it up to this being the time he managed to not die, so he reserved the right to hate on the other version of him.

Then, after meeting him and stewing in his hate, it came as a shock when he read his uncle’s diary. He could have never imagined what lay in the text.

He was cleaning out his house when he found it again after so many years. Back on that stormy night, his uncle handed him a sword, a shield, and a book. He never had time to read it, so he put it away, not having the heart to. Now... well, it couldn’t hurt.

While the others were outside, looking around his Hyrule, he sat down and read.

“Dear Link, if you are reading this, I am dead.”

Legend snorted.

“Or something has happened to me. I have something to tell you, a secret that has been passed down since my grandmother’s grandmother’s mother. The Order of Knights that were our ancestors weren’t our only relations.”

He sat up. He knew of the knights, those were easy to trace his lineage back to, but what else was there in his family tree.

“There have been many rumors about our family. Some say we are a bastard clan of the Royal Family, I’ve even heard some say you are her Highness’ brother.”

Legend cackled. Him? Zelda’s brother? She would have murdered him if they were related from sheer annoyance.

“This is not true by any means, but we do have some significant blood running through us. Going back to before the dark times, we are the descendants of-“

“Hey, Legend,” Hyrule walked in, “are these berries poisonous, cause Wild ate a whole handful and...”

THUD.

“Legend?!” Hyrule rushed over to see the hero standing over the book he dropped. Eyes staring blankly into the wall and hand gripping his tunic. “Are you alright?”

“I-I’m,” he swayed to the whims of Hyrule shaking him.

When he didn’t respond, Hyrule picked up the book and read the page he was on. After a second, Hyrule realized what was wrong.

“You’re related to...” Hyrule narrowed his eyes, “how? How is that possible?!”

Legend didn’t respond.

“Does anyone else know?” Hyrule tried to get any coherence out of his friend.

Legend growled, “Sahasrahla, that... he had to have known. I am going to kill that old man!”

“No one else?”

“Maybe Zelda, she called upon both me and my uncle based off our bloodline.”

Silence.

“You have to tell him,” Hyrule declared.

“No!”

“You have to tell Time that you are his descendant!” Hyrule shouted.

BANG! The door slammed open.

“What?!” Twilight growled after running in the door. Presumably, he was there about the berries, as he was holding a jar of them. Wild must’ve had a lot and had some consequences.

“Out!” Legend pointed to the door, a glare on his face.

“No,” Twilight walked in farther, closing the door behind him, “what’s this about you be related to Time.”

“None of your business!”

“I think it is.”

The two had a staring contest while Hyrule was losing his mind.

“How had you not known before, how had we not known?” He asked, “Malon was being suspicious when we met her, she kept watching us. I think she knew one of us was her great grandchild or something. But how?”

Twilight’s ears flicked.

“What does it even matter,” Legend spoke, “let’s just forget about this and never talk about it again!”

“This is important,” Twilight wouldn’t back down, “I know how you feel about Time, about your version of him. Now you’re related to him? You aren’t going to see him the same after this.”

“You know what?” Legend smirked, “you bring up a good point. My version of Time, the Fallen Hero. He’s exactly that, the Fallen Hero, he died! How could he have had a kid, no less descendants? This could all be a farce!”

“Unless,” Hyrule popped in, “the Fallen Hero lived at least until 18 before finally dying in the battle with Ganon. There’s a window that he could have...”

He shut up when Legend pointed his sword at him.

“Sorry...”

Legend sighed, “let’s just ignore this.”

Twilight huffed, “I thought you prided yourself on not being Time?”

That did it. Without thinking, Legend pulled out one of his million fire rods and launched an attack at the Hero of Twilight.

“I am not him!” He screamed in rage, “I have done what he could not, multiple times even. I could never be related to such a failure!”

“And yet you are!” Twilight pulled out his gale boomerang and used the winds to blow out the fire. “Why does that scare you? You’ve met Time, he’s a great person.”

“Guys!” Hyrule was hiding behind his shield, hoping that there wouldn’t be too much carnage. He hugged the diary, making sure it didn’t get burned. “Stop fighting!”

“Why do you care!?” Legend snarled, “you’ve always had a soft spot for him, wouldn’t hear a word against him. Is there a reason for that? What? Are you also related to him?”

Twilight paused and the wind and fire finally dispersed. Realization dawned on Legend.

“You have got to be kidding me,” He said dully. “I should have seen this from the start. The Hero of Time’s golden boy and protege, he trains you to be a better him. This is just precious!”

Then, Twilight laughed.

“Oh,” Twilight smiled, “I know what this is about. You’re jealous!”

“Jealous, please. I am not Warriors.”

Twilight shrugged, “sure. But you, you are jealous that maybe the Hero of Time actually survived in one lifetime and he lived a happy life.”

“I have nothing against Time-“

“Not him,” Twilight interrupted, “you hate the very idea of the Hero of Time, and you are jealous of the nice life he had.

“He had a relatively happy childhood. Grew up, got a wife, had kids. Meanwhile, you have done nothing but fight since you were a kid, and you haven’t stopped. You have suffered thanks to Time’s supposed failure, so why should he be happy and not you!”

“Twilight,” Hyrule whined, “that’s not fair.”

“I’m right,” Twilight crossed his arms, “aren’t I?”

No response from Legend, he had shut down again.

“Now,” Twilight set down the jar of berries he had somehow held onto this whole time, “I need to make sure Wild is alive.”

He turned to the door and spoke as he left, “don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. See you in a bit, cousin.”

As the door creaked closed, Legend fell on his knees and started to cry. Hyrule rushed over and tried to comfort him, but he didn’t know what to do.

“Legend,” he whispered, “it’s alright! Twilight was just mad, you know how close he is to Time, he didn’t mean any of it.”

“It’s true, though,” he sadly admitted, “I don’t like the idea of the Hero of Time being happy.”

Hyrule stuttered, “w-what.”

“Did you think I liked being forced into this life?” Legend cried, “being dragged into fighting an indescribable terror because the previous hero died. I have fought Ganon four times, I didn’t want this!”

He stared at the book in Hyrule’s hands.

“And then, I learned that my time, *our* timeline, was nothing but a cosmic mistake! I didn’t want to believe it, but my whole existence is nothing but a dying thought in a sick world.”

He dug his nails into his legs, “why does Time live in another timeline? Why does he have the, the *audacity* to be happy when I am not! I hate him! I hate the Hero of Time! I would rather that he was dead!”

“Legend!” Hyrule gasped, “that’s not true! Time has been nothing but nice to us, and Malon, and-“

“I don’t care,” Legend smiled bitterly, “it feels good to admit it out loud. You wouldn’t understand, though, you are farther away from him.”

Hyrule stared at him in disbelief, “I wouldn’t understand? *I* wouldn’t understand?! Legend, remember who I had to fight, what the state of my Hyrule is in!”

Legend realized his mistake too late. Hyrule was angry now.

“I fought Ganon, too!” He frowned, “and my kingdom doesn’t even have any proper cities! Why is that? If you fought Ganon, four times, why is he still around?”

“That’s not my fault!” Legend spat, “Ganon can be resurrected!”

“Then how is it Time’s fault that you had to fight Ganon?”

“He could’ve killed him when he was a man, ending the cycle!”

“You don’t know that,” Hyrule retorted, “if you blame Time, then I can blame you. But, I don’t...”

Legend narrowed his eyes.

“If we blamed everyone before us for not stopping all the evil in the world,” Hyrule continued, “we would be very bitter people. Do you blame Four?”

“No, he didn’t really fight Ganon-“

“But he still did. Do you blame Sky?”

“Hylia-“

“Hylia nothing! Do you blame Sky? He was the first one to get cursed, starting the cycle.”

“He was fighting a god, he couldn’t have destroyed him.”

“And Ganon was the reincarnation of that god’s hate. Do you see what I mean?”

Legend said nothing.

“If you blame Time, then you have to blame every single person that came before you. If you blame Time, you will be a hypocrite and I deem you responsible for the state of my kingdom!”

Legend sighed, “alright. I get it.”

Hyrule choked on spit, ready to continue his tangent, but stopped in his tracks.

“Really?” He smiled hopefully.

“Yeah,” Legend bit his tongue, “I have been taught all my life that Hyrule was in shambles because of one man. Maybe we’ve been blaming the kindling for the fire and not the arsonist. Still...”

He sat on his bed, putting his hands into his face, “I can’t forgive him. A sick, dark part of me wants him to suffer as much as I have. I almost want to see the arsonist come back.”

He fell onto his back, “I never should have been born. At least then I wouldn’t have to deal with this!”

Hyrule sat next to him, “don’t say that. Because of you, many people are alive today that weren’t. You might’ve inadvertently saved an ancestor of mine and allowed me to live!”

“Anyone could have done that,” Legend argued.

“And anyone could have failed,” Hyrule pointed out, “infinite timeline, infinite possibilities. I think it’s good to admit this, now you can move on.”

“I don’t know if I can!” Legend groaned, “every time I look at Time I want to punch him!”

“It’ll be slow,” Hyrule nodded, “but you know in your head that he isn’t to blame. You just need to change your heart. And, I think to do that, you need to...”

“No!”

“Please! You know Twilight’s already told Wild, and Time will immediately know something is off with them and find out.”

“...”

“Legend?”

“Fine. Uncle, what have you gotten me into?”

So, Legend prided himself on many things. Being jealous, vengeful, and full of spite was not one of them.

Later that night, as Twilight glared at him, with Hyrule at his side, he handed Time the book. Time flipped to the bookmarked page and read, showing no emotion as he did. Silently, Time returned the book before speaking.

“It is an honor to have you in the family,” he smiled, “I’m sure Malon will be excited to learn about this.”

And, against his heart’s will, Legend was happy at the thought.

“This changes nothing between us, Old Man,” Legend smirked, “you owe it to Hyrule for me even telling you this.”

“Hey!” Hyrule protested, “you didn’t have to tell him.”

Time laughed, “oh, I know, kit.”

“Kit?” Legend knitted his eyebrows, “oh, no! You can’t give me a nickname like you did Twilight!”

“Would you rather bunny rabbit?”

How did he even know about that?! Ravio, you snitch!

Legend hid his smile, “kit it is then.”

With a pat on the back from Time and a smile from Hyrule, Legend sat down to have dinner with a smile on his face.

Chapter Text

If Legend didn’t stop chewing he was going to murder him.

They were in Time’s Hyrule, a place he loathed to admit that he hated. It was too big and there was too many people everywhere one went. Even the smallest groups of buildings were bigger than Ordon easily, and even Ordon was too big for him.

That’s why he liked Lon Lon Ranch. It was like his house: out of the way, near animals, and no people for miles.

Sadly, they were in Kakariko, during the busiest part of the day. They were eating food, curtesy of Wild, and his surroundings were getting to him. He was going crazy.

And Legend. Wouldn’t. Stop. Chewing.

“Yo,” Wild said after he finished his food, “you okay?”

“Yeah,” Twilight lied with a smile.

The sun was too bright. There was so much wind. The heat from Death Mountain burned him. The smell of constant construction filled his head.

He was always aware of every little thing that the others were doing. Time’s breathing was uneasy, putting him on edge. Warriors was talking too loud and he wanted to cover his ears. And Legend was still chewing.

“Legend, for Hylia’s sake!” Twilight finally shouted, “close your mouth!”

Legend stopped mid bite, “what?”

With a groan, Twilight covered his face and ears the best he could. He jumped when a hand touched his back. It was Four.

“Woah!” Four backed up, “are you seriously okay?”

“Stop talking,” he begged.

He thought he had gotten over this. When he first transformed into a wolf and then back, Twilight learned that his senses were heightened. He could smell, hear, see, feel, and taste everything to the extreme. He was constantly drowning in his surroundings.

Midna liked to make fun of him for that at first. Saying how clearly better his wolf form was and how weak his human body was. She stopped when he literally collapsed from sensory overload. She also made sure to move him away from things she knew would make him upset.

Over time, he got used to it, but ever since meeting the others... He changed into Wolfie a lot more, restarting his senses, and it was finally catching up to him.

“Pup,” Time spoke up softly, “what’s wrong.”

“I,” Twilight started, clutching his hands into his hair and curling into a smaller shape, “I can’t think! Everything is loud! Oh, no...”

They were switching. He had never noticed when they switched before, he wasn’t Hyrule, but now he could feel every second. It felt like his body was being torn apart, limb from limb, and his mind was filled with static.

He couldn’t see. The world was blurred over and dull, yet it was too bright for him. He was in the fetal position on the ground, falling out of his now non-existent chair. He felt the grass and the individual weeds scratching him. Bugs buzzed and he could have sworn they were crawling over him.

“Twilight!” Someone shouted.

Shut up! He wanted to call back.

Where was he? If he knew, then he could escape into the woods are something. But, with all the worlds, who knew. Forbid it be Wind’s world. He couldn’t be stuck on an island with people and no escape.

And now there were eight people surrounding him and wouldn’t leave. How could he tell them his plight? Midna was usually the one to do this, or...

“What are y’all doing!?” A new voice entered the fray.

At first, he winced at the sudden noise, but then he was relieved. They were in his world. He knew that person, and they could help him.

“What are you doing here?” Warriors asked.

“None of your business, Pretty Boy!” The person shouted, “last I checked this was my world, so you best listen to me. Now, I don’t care who the rest of you are, get on out of here!”

“You can’t tell us what to do,” Legend huffed, “who are you?”

“L-l,” Twilight whimpered out. He could feel the group shuffle to look at him.

“I’m here,” the voice said softly before going back to harsh, “y’all get on out of here before I shoot you!”

Somehow, that was nicer than how Midna used to communicate to others trying to help. Luckily, the group got the message.

“We aren’t done here,” Warriors pointed.

“Yeah, yeah,” the voice waved him off, “go crash his house or something. Epona will go crazy if she spends five more minutes with Ilia.”

And they were gone. Twilight’s stress lessoned by half with only one person now around him. His breathing slowed and he could see a little again.

“I’m gonna move you, alright?” He weakly nodded in response, “gotta get you under a tree or something.”

The pain his mind felt when the person picked him up and bridal carried him to the shade was terrible. The rocking almost made him want to throw up. But, when he was sat down and leaned against a tree, he felt immensely better.

The person sat down a little bit away from him and was silent. Twilight breathed in what he now knew was Faron Forest air and smiled. After a while, a couple minutes, he was back to normal and he opened his eyes.

“Thanks, sis,” he smiled and looked over at the person.

A girl about a year younger than him with bright blonde hair was smiling back at him. Her hair was braided with red ribbons and she had a pumpkin inspired pair of shorts on. Her green hood and cape were covered in branches and the compass on her chest glinted in the sunlight.

“No problem, bro,” Linkle leaned her head to the side, “Midna ain’t here, so I’m making up lost time in her place.”

“Why are you here?” Twilight asked, “shouldn’t you be in Castletown, working with the resistance?”

“Eh,” she shrugged, “got a call from Fado, saying that you upped and left. He’s got no one to help with the goats now, y’know?”

Twilight groaned, “I didn’t mean to be gone for so long!”

“What were you even doing?” Linkle frowned in annoyance, “Ilia told me you just rode off into the distance and no one saw you after for weeks. Please don’t tell me you were being emo about Midna!”

He said nothing, giving Linkle her answer.

“I met her, y’know,” Linkle sighed, “she said you should move on.”

“You managed to make it to the Twilight Realm,” Twilight pointed, “why couldn’t I?”

Linkle pouted, “go ask your friend Pretty Boy about it, he knows.”

“Warriors wouldn’t even look me in the eye when he talked about the Twilight Realm,” Twilight argued, “I doubt I could get any answers from him.”

“Warriors, huh?” Linkle muttered, “Pretty Boy fits better, I bet that the name Warriors goes to his head. Regardless, who’s the rest of the blond brigade. I recognize some of them, but I don’t know from where.”

“Those are different incarnations of the Hero’s Spirit,” Twilight answered, “after I left I ran into a portal and met them. Right now, we’re tracking down a shadow creature.”

“Shadow as in Twili or dark magic?”

“Dark.”

She crossed her arms, “how come I wasn’t invited to this?”

Twilight tossed his hands, “did you want to be cursed, too?”

“It would’ve been nice. I’m a hero, too!”

Twilight chuckled, “maybe next time, sis. I should probably go make sure the others don’t destroy my house.”

“Pretty Boy has already insulted all of your clothing, I guarantee.”

They walked back to Twilight’s house, telling each other what they were doing in the past weeks.

Linkle took leave from rebuilding Castletown to help Ordon, since it was defenseless with Twilight gone. She talked about how much she hated the goats, saying that she couldn’t keep her cucco around because it was spooked by them.

In turn, Twilight explained everyone to her. She already knew Warriors and briefly met Time and Wind, but the others she didn’t know about. He told her about his protege of Wild, how he helped her in a similar way she did Warriors.

“Hylia help him!” She gasped in mock terror, “no way he lived with you watching him.”

He pushed her, “he would’ve died many times over if not for me.”

He gave a quick description of the others. He was finished when they finally reached his house. He could hear a commotion inside, probably the other Links. Time and Wild were waiting for them outside.

“Twi!” Wild ran over, “are you okay? What happened?”

Twilight nodded, “I’ve never seen you so worked up about me, it’s alright.”

Time walked over, “does that happen often?”

“No...”

“Liar!” Linkle interrupted, “this happens whenever he turns into a wolf too much.”

Wild’s eyes widened. She knew?

“Linkle,” Twilight sighed, “I am trying to keep that a secret. You’re lucky these two know already.”

“You and secrets!” She shouted, “with how you are, I bet they don’t even know about me.”

“Um,” Twilight gulped.

Linkle raised an eyebrow, “seriously? So they all think I’m some crazy lady who burst into their group and dragged your body into the woods?”

“Yes,” Wild answered bluntly.

She glared at Twilight, “we’ll get back to this. Anyway, whenever he is a butt and transforms too much, he gets sensory overload. To fix this, have most people leave the area and get him in darkness and quiet. The forest also works.”

“That’s good to know,” Time said, “thank you. And it’s good to see you again, Linkle.”

“Aw,” she smiled, “you remembered me! Though, I am kinda shocked, since that would’ve been like thirty years for you since we met. I barely remember you from a couple months ago.”

“I have a good memory,” he replied.

“Now,” Linkle clapped her hands, “introduce me to all your friends before everyone realizes you’re back.”

The group, once called out of his house, took the introduction of the his sister... well? It was hard to say.

“You have a sister?” Wild and Wind said at the same time. Wind beamed, most likely thinking about Aryll, and Wild’s eyes went blank again.

“Your brother was the Hero of Twilight and you didn’t tell me?” Warriors growled.

“We hadn’t met then,” Linkle shut him up, “and did you really what Cia to find out?”

“You didn’t know each other until recently?” Four asked in confusion.

“Our parents died after Linkle was born,” Twilight explained, “our grandmother couldn’t take care of us both, so she kept Linkle, as she was younger, and I was given away. Eventually, I was adopted by Rusl.”

“Then the nonsense with Pretty Boy happened,” Linkle continued, “portals opened up all over the country and I knew I had to help. Because I am also a hero!”

“She doesn’t mean like us,” Twilight added quickly.

“So, I met Pretty Boy, or Warriors, ew, and some of y’all. Then, by the time I came back, the country was in another set of problems!”

“Which is what my adventure was,” Twilight interrupted, “while saving Hyrule, I met Linkle when she was working with a resistance. We connected the dots pretty quickly.”

“So,” Linkle smiled, “we’re siblings!”

Warriors spoke, “one question, how come Twilight was never apart of my war, but you were.”

Linkle smirked, “this idiot never left Ordon and never saw portals of Twili magic. Maybe that’s a good thing, would’ve caused some confusion down the line.”

“Well,” Sky said, “it’s nice to meet you.”

“Y’all, too,” she replied, “and y’all better have been protecting my bro. And you better say hi to everybody back in town.”

She said the last bit to Twilight.

“I know, I know,” he nodded, “just so long as you can cover for me still.”

She frowned, “you’re leaving?”

“We’ve got a mission.”

“Fine, but I get your crossbow!”

“You already have two.”

“And I need three!”

“Fine,” he smiled and hugged his sister.

Chapter Text

The last hero to be introduced into the group was actually a gaggle of four boys. The eight Links were camping when they heard voices arguing near them.

“Nice going!” One screamed in anger, “next time don’t walk into a portal!”

“I-I’m s-sorry,” another cried, “but I t-thought...”

“You didn’t think at all!”

“Stop fighting!” A third voice commanded.

The final one spoke up, “we have to figure out where we are.”

Twilight and Wild were the ones to check out the noises, with Wind forcibly joining the group. They walked over to see four identical people glaring at each other.

“Why do I always have a headache?” The one in green asked before noticing the three heroes, “hello?”

“Is everything alright?” Twilight asked, “our camping group heard voices.”

“Everything is fine!” The green one smiled, waving them off, “just a bit lost-“

“We stepped through a portal and have no idea where we are,” the purple one bluntly stated.

“Vio!”

Vio ignored his companion, “may I ask where we are?”

“Hyrule,” Twilight answered, already suspicious, “what kind of portal.”

“Vio...”

“Green, please,” Vio waved off Green, “it was a dark one created by some creature. We were investigating when we fell in.”

Wind looked at Twilight and Wild and then back to the group, “would any of you happen to be named Link?”

“Y-!” The red one was about to answer when the blue one jumped on him.

“It’s complicated,” Green frowned, “why?”

And that’s how they met the Heroes of the Four Sword. Twilight explained their situation and the group agreed to travel with them. Before introductions were made, they went back to the rest of the heroes.

“So,” Warriors thought aloud, “you guys are quadruplets who are collectively your time’s hero?”

“That’s right,” Green answered, “the Four Sword was a mystical blade that replicated itself so all of us could use it to fight against evil!”

“And you are named after colors?” Sky asked.

“From what we heard,” the blue one rolled his eyes, “you are all using nicknames because you all share the name Link. Are colors really that weird, *Sky*?”

Sky took the hint and backed off.

“Anyway...” Green redirected the conversation, “my name is Green, I’m the level headed one and the leader.”

“My is name is Vio,” Vio added, “they say I’m the boring one, though I prefer the only one who actually reads.”

“Whatever, Violet!” The blue one growled. Vio glared back and Hyrule connected the dots.

“So,” he began, “you help people tell you apart by giving them descriptions of your personalities. Is the blue one the emotional one?”

“You f*cking wish!” The blue one shouted, “name’s Blue and I’m known as the angry one. This is Red, the emotional one.”

“Hi, everybody!” Red waved, “it’s so nice to meet you!”

And, with that, the twelve heroes were set in stone. They traveled and became friends, but they all noticed weird things about the brothers.

For one, they all fought perfectly in sync with each other. Without even sharing a plan they would jump into battle and quickly take care of it. Wind was convinced they used telepathy or had a communication device. It got to the point where Legend was starting to believe it.

Second off, they were all weirdly attached to their respective swords. Wanting to be always armed wasn’t what they found weird, they all agreed on that, but it was the fact that they wanted no one else to touch them but them. Even each other.

“Green!” Red cried one day, “I can’t find my sword!”

“Is it with your stuff?”

“No!”

It turns out that Vio had accidentally grabbed Red’s and was carrying it around. That day was the closest anyone saw sweet little Red to murder. He nearly strangled Vio after he sighted the red gem on the hilt.

So, in essence, weird and a little bit worrying.

Third, they all told the exact same story, word for word, of their first adventure. Like, Time memorized what they said and checked it with all four of them: it was exactly the same.

“The princess was turned to stone,” Green explained.

“The Wind Mage needed to be stopped,” Blue growled.

“So, I met the Minish!” Red squealed.

“And the rest is history,” Vio finished.

Word for word, and pretty vague at that. They also all took note of each brother using “I” instead of “we.”

But they had nothing to explain these oddities until one day...

“Green, psst!” One the brothers called out from their tent. Legend turned to look and saw... Vio? Blue? It was hard to tell from him hiding behind the tent flap.

“Green!” Legend yelled, “your brother wants you.”

“Huh?” Green looked over before fear filled his face. He stopped talking to Time and immediately ran into the tent.

Curious, Legend walked over and listened.

“What’s going on?” Green asked, panicked.

“We don’t know!” The brother responded, “something’s wrong with the Four Sword. We need to get to a blacksmith before we go crazy.”

“I’ll get Red to distract them, you two run and figure it out. Worst comes to worst...”

“No,” the brother’s voice was somehow angry and scared at the same time, “we can’t let them see us!”

Green sighed, “they could help us. Maybe...”

“We aren’t reversing this! You know how dangerous it is. How much it hurts...”

“Right. Red should be ready any-“

“Whatcha doing?” Red suddenly popped into Legend’s line of sight.

“Ah!” He screamed and jumped backward, “don’t do that!”

He giggled, “sorry, but maybe you shouldn’t be listening in on my brothers. That’s rude you know.”

“Blue is nothing but rude, too,” Legend sneered. Hey, wait a minute! “I knew it!”

Red raised an eyebrow, “knew what?”

“Why are you here?” Legend leered.

“Uh, it’s me and my brothers’ tent.”

“At this moment.”

Red glanced to the side, “uhh...”

“You came the second Green said you would be here,” Legend pointed out, “so you four do have some telepathy going on. What else are you hiding?”

“Nothing!” Red said too quickly, “Blue and Vio are just not feeling well and they don’t want to seem weak in front of everyone.”

“Uh-huh,” Legend called bull, “and how come whoever was in the tent is now gone?”

Red did his job correctly, because Legend didn’t realize the tent emptied until after the fact. He growled when he only saw Green, now talking with Time again.

“You must have been imagining it,” Red smiled a fake smile, the liar!

Legend scrunched up his nose. He would get to the bottom of this.

A day later, Blue and Vio were walking and talking, no signs of being sick. The liars.

The next time something like this happened, it was a little more obvious. They were in some town and Red and Green walked into a shop together. Only one of them, Green, came out and Red was nowhere to be found.

“Where’s Red?” Wild asked.

“Oh, he went out the back,” Green lied obviously, “he saw a cat and he wanted to pet it.”

Wild didn’t believe him, “what’s on your shirt?”

He pointed to the entire bottom right section of his tunic, which was now red.

“A stain!” Green covered it the best he could with his hand, “the shop keeper dropped a potion on me. Nothing a little water won’t rinse off!”

“Okay,” Wild shrugged, “I don’t care that you’re lying, but the others might, so get better at hiding things.”

Green sighed in relief, “thank you, Wild! Something’s just going on with some of our magic, nothing to worry about.”

He was still lying, but secrets were secrets. Wild understood that.

The third time was the kicker. Green, Blue, and Vio were all missing and only Red was around. They were concerned, but Red wasn’t answering any questions.

“Where’s your brothers?” Time asked.

“Around, like always,” Red gestured vaguely, “I don’t know exactly where they are.”

“Bull!” Legend called out, “you four have some sort of way to communicate with each other.”

“That’s called talking!”

Legend jabbed, “where are they?”

With all the others looking down at him, with varying levels of anger and concern, Red broke. He started to cry and everyone looked at him awkwardly. Making Red cry wasn’t hard to do, but it felt like they kicked a puppy.

“Red, buddy,” Twilight knelt down, “listen, we’re just worried about them.”

“I-I know!”

“You know that we would never do anything to hurt your brothers, right?”

“Y-yes.”

“Then can you tell us where they are so we can help them?”

Red sniffled, “they’ll get mad at me if I tell. They wouldn’t let me be with them ever again.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Twilight shook his head, “they care for you just as much as you do them. So?”

Red decided and wiped away his tears, “they’re at Death Mountain. I’ll show you.”

The walk to Death Mountain was a quiet and awkward one. Red kept sniffling and making pointless conversation about smithing while the others were wondering what was going on.

Time had a theory. He always had theories. It was just a matter of how accurate his guesses were. And, what his was wasn’t good if true.

Finally, they made it up to the center crater of the volcano and Red pointed.

“There they are,” he said in a small voice. Everyone looked at where he directed them and they only saw one person. A very short, angry, agitated person.

“Is that Blue?” Hyrule assumed.

Red shook his head, “no...”

Upon closer inspection as the group slowly inched forward, they noticed something off about “Blue.” The tunic wasn’t correct, being a mashup of green, blue, and purple all at once, and the person was acting manic.

“STUPID!” The person shouted, “STUPID! You can’t fix one sword! I might as well toss it into the lava!”

“What the-“ Wind started.

“Shut up!” The person’s voice changed, “I can’t concentrate.”

“Oh you would like me to shut up. Shut up for good! Maybe don’t fix the stupid thing, then you won’t have to deal with me!”

“This is getting us no where!”

The voices kept changing and the whole time the person was running around a makeshift forge. They were hammering away at a sword on an anvil while also moving supplies around.

“Work. Work! WORK!” The person screamed as the group finally made it to them. “WORK YOU GODDESS DAMNED SWORD!”

“Guys!” Red got the person’s attention and they turned around.

The group took note of the person’s face: it was just like the brothers. Except, the hair was messily tied back into pony tail and the headband was pulled to its limits. Their eyes were crazy and had bags under them. Their lips were cracked from being in the heat for so long with no water.

“Red,” the person now spoke in a chorus of voices, “what are *they* doing here?”

“They were really worried,” Red twiddled his fingers, “I thought it was time to finally tell them...”

“You thought wrong!” They spat and then shot their hand out to the group, “leave! You are interrupting us.”

“Hold up!” Warriors stepped forward, “what is going on?”

The person glared at him, “none of your business. We said leave!”

“Where’s Red’s brothers?”

The person laughed, “dead if you don’t let us to our job.”

Despite protests, the person turned around and went back to hammering their sword, which they now realized was a broken form of the Four Sword.

“Work, work, work,” the person huffed as they slaved away, “no use in a broken blade!”

“Red,” Twilight looked at the boy, “can you explain?”

Red swallowed, “that’s... that’s my brothers.”

“Dr. Jekyll over there is Green, Vio, and Blue?” Warriors put his hands on his hips.

“Yes,” Red nodded sadly, “you see-“

“No, no, Red!” The person, Green, Vio, and Blue, interrupted, “remember what happened the last time the secret was spilt. Blood was also spilt, and we were split.”

“This isn’t like last time!” Red shouted, “they aren’t trying to kill us and can actually help.”

The person huffed, “fine, but when they inevitably try to kill us, you will be the first to go.”

“Hold on,” Sky frowned, “we would never try to kill any of you.”

The person smirked, “heard that one before. Go on, Red, tell them the story of the Four Sword.”

At the mention of the blade, the person smashed their hammer down extra hard. The clang it made vibrated throughout the whole mountain.

“Red?” Twilight asked.

“We aren’t really brothers,” he explained, “originally, we were one person named Link and we went on an adventure with the Minish. Afterwards, the bad guy tricked us into pulling the Four Sword, setting him free. The Four Sword didn’t just copy itself, it copied...”

“Link,” Time’s theory was confirmed. He had heard the legends of the Four Sword, he just didn’t know if they were exaggerated or not.

Red nodded, “the Four Sword split Link into us, but not everyone took that well. One time when we told someone that we were Link, it was a spy working for Ganondorf and, and...”

The sob told them everything.

“After that, we promised to tell no one about who we were, which was easy when we finished our mission, because-“

“Because this is what happens,” the person spoke up again, “when broken pieces are put back together again!”

“We were going to put the Four Sword back where we found it,” Red continued, “but when we became Link again, we were still fractured. It almost drove us insane! We had to pull the sword out again and stay split and never be Link again.”

“Then what’s the problem now?” Legend asked.

“The sword won’t work, work, work!” The person shrieked, hammering faster, “magic’s running out and pretty soon Link will be back and we will all be split!”

Red started crying hard, “we don’t know what to do. At first it was just two of us merging and coming apart, but now they won’t come back!”

“A broken sword is all we are,” the person agreed.

“What can we do?” Time offered.

Red spoke, “Vio had some theories before... well, he thought that fixing the actual blade could fix the problem, but that isn’t working. He also said the sword’s power could be refueled with either elemental or light magic.”

“What kind of elemental magic?” Wild asked.

“The Four Sword was made with fire, water, earth, and air magic.”

“Would these work?” Wild pulled four multicolored orbs out of nowhere that he never showed before, “they are associated with different elemental powers, but I don’t know if they could work on others.”

“Those,” Red beamed, “would be perfect!”

“And I,” Legend dug through his bag, “have light arrows, gifted by Princess Zelda.”

“Guys,” Red looked at his brothers, “do you want to try?”

The person stopped for a second and smiled wickedly, “if this kills us, we told you so.”

A second later, they were ready. Wild did some sort of magic and made the orbs fly around three brothers, who were still hammering away at the sword. Legend was at a higher angle than all of them, bow in hand and ready to fire. Red was looking incredibly nervous.

“Are you ready?” Twilight patted him on the back.

“We haven’t been one in so long,” he admitted, “I’m scared we won’t be able to fix this.”

“We will,” Twilight smiled, “trust us!”

Red became determined, “I do. Are you ready, guys?”

“Yes!” That was Green’s voice shining through.

“Never!” Blue jeered.

“Now or never,” Vio declared.

Red looked at all the Links, who were standing guard in case something went wrong, “thanks.”

He then ran to his brothers and in a flash of light, the four were one again. The tunic was now evenly split between the four colors and their hair was slightly longer. Link was whole once more.

But for how long?

Sensing the slight hesitation, Link yelled in four different voice, “DO IT!”

Wild summoned the champions’ powers and lightning, wind, fire, and water filled the room. Legend fired a volley of arrows and light blinded almost everyone. Link, meanwhile, was holding up his sword, which was absorbing all the magic.

“Aaahhhh!” Link screamed in pain for ten seconds until everything went still and he collapsed on the ground.

No one moved. No one breathed. All of them were staring to see what Link would do.

Slowly, Link moved. He picked himself up off the ground, using the Four Sword as a crutch. When he was on his feet, he looked at everyone and... smiled.

“It’s so quiet,” he said in a soft voice.

“What?” Legend asked.

“I can only hear my voice,” he explained, grabbing his head in joy, “there’s only one voice! I’m whole again!”

And everyone was able to smile at the sight of Link being alright.

“Wait,” Hyrule raised a hand, “what happened to, um, your parts?”

Link put a hand to his chin, “good question. Let me see.”

He raised his sword above his head and yelled.

“HYAH!” Another flash of light surrounded him and in his place was the four brothers, this time looking much happier.

“We did it!” Green celebrated.

“Red,” Blue grunted, “stop hugging me!”

“Never,” Red refused, “you are never going to get rid of me now.”

Vio looked at the others, “thank you. I have been trying to figure out how to bring Link back for months.”

“No problem,” Sky smiled, “will we still see you around now that you can be one?”

Vio shrugged, “remember, we are just parts of a whole. As long as Link is around, we are around. But, I’m sure he’ll not be used to being one, so you’ll see a lot of us.”

Vio went back to his brothers and they fused a final time, leaving a very happy Link. He waved at everyone.

“I believe I will be needing a new nickname,” he introduced himself, “hello, I am Four.”

Chapter Text

“Darling!” Time smiled as he swung the ranch house door open, “we’re back!”

“Thank goodness!” Malon called back from another room, “stay right there! I’ll be right out.”

One by one the Links entered the house and got situated. Legend was the last one in and Time put out a hand to stop him from moving.

“What gives, Old Man?” He glared.

“I’m telling Malon,” he answered plainly, “I just wanted you to know.”

Legend moved Time’s hand, “thanks, but I don’t really see this as a big deal. I don’t even exist in this timeline, and, if I did, we are too far apart for this to matter.”

Time shrugged, “it’s a big deal to us. To Malon and me, it’s proof that we can always have some kind of life together that goes somewhere. Even if the version of me that’s related to you is dead, I still had time to be with my wife.”

“Gross,” Legend rolled his eyes, “whatever makes you happiest I guess. Just promise me Malon won’t do that thing where she pinches my cheek that she does to Twilight and Wild.”

“Can’t promise that, Kit.”

“Of course...”

Malon then entered, hair tied back in a pony tale, “it’s been ages! I’m so glad you made it.”

She ran up to her husband and kissed him. While Legend before said his ancestry didn’t affect his view of the two, he couldn’t help but gag at the sight and turned away.

“So,” Malon smiled, “do you know what day it is?”

“We’ve been on the road for awhile,” Time explained, “lost track of time.”

“You?” She smacked him playfully, “never! I bet you know the very minute on the clock, but dates have never been your strong suit, so... I guess you’ll have to guess!”

Time raised an eyebrow, “so, it’s a holiday?”

“To me it is.”

“Anniversary?”

“Of sorts!”

While the couple played, the others went into their normal routine on the farm. Every time they came they happened to want to help, so they fit into an unspoken chore list.

Twi and Four worked with the horses. Wind and Sky worked with the cuccos. Warriors and Hyrule went to fixing things. Wild messed with the horses and didn’t actually do anything useful. Legend, meanwhile, was leaning up against the side of the barn, looking cool.

“You look like a dork!” Warriors shouted at him, and Legend flipped him off in response.

But there was another reason why he was standing there, because it so happened that he could hear Time and Malon through an open window near him. Why was he listening? Not because he actually cared. No, sir!

“You can’t guess?” Malon pouted, “you’re really selfless, aren’t you, Fairy Boy?”

“What can I say?” Time smirked, “maybe if you told me the date, then I would know.”

“You’ll find out at dinner!” She smiled, “I’m just so excited you made it in time. Plus, with the boys!”

“Speaking of,” Time spoke and Legend leaned forward, “you know about Twilight, already-“

“Yes,” she interrupted, “what about him?”

“It’s not about him,” he shook his head, “but, it turns out, there’s another.”

“Another what? You better not be joking!”

Time laughed, “no, Honey, it turns out that this isn’t the only timeline that we will have children.”

“Who?”

“I guess you’ll have to guess.”

“You!” Malon huffed.

Legend listened harder to hear her guess, but he was then smacked in the head.

“What are you doing?” Twilight growled.

“Nothing, *cuz*,” he spat out the last bit, “I don’t have to work whenever we come here, you know!”

“But you also don’t gotta ease-drop,” Twilight pointed out, “now get to work before I sick a goat on you!”

“You can’t do that,” Legend leered.

“How do you think Epona follows me around?” He smirked, “I can summon animals like Wild can apples.”

“If you are implying that you have a hundred goats in your pocket, then I don’t believe you.”

“Whatever,” he huffed and handed Legend some rope, “please stop Wild. He hopped on a wild horse and is now running crazy. Hogtie him or something.”

They worked for another hour before Malon called them in for dinner. Wild limped through the front door while Legend helped him.

“This is degrading,” he complained.

“I could’ve walked myself!” Wild bit.

“No, you couldn’t!” Hyrule, the resident healer, shouted back.

“Thanks, Legend,” Wild reluctantly took a swig of a potion before gagging.

“No problem.”

Once they were all set at seats or leaning on a counter, Malon clapped her hands. With a smile on her face, she cheerfully spoke.

“Since my husband is a dreadful guesser,” she started, “y’all get to find out what today is with him. It’s November 21st!”

No one spoke. November 21st? Was that an era specific holiday or did it have a hidden meaning. Apparently it meant something for two of the group.

“Oh!” Legend and Time said at the same time and they looked at each other. Legend quickly looked away.

“Happy Birthday, Darling!” Malon then produced a decorated cake and sat it at the table.

And the room exploded.

“It’s your birthday?” Wind gasped, “why didn’t you tell us?!”

“How old are you now?” Warriors bugged.

“Happy birthday,” Wild and Twilight congratulated together.

Legend, like always, sulked in the corner. Of course his birthday was November 21st!

“I honestly forgot,” Time laughed as Malon kissed him on the cheek, “thank you, Honey.”

“I don’t see any candles on the cake,” Four observed, “is that not a tradition in this time still?”

Malon waved her hands, “no, it still is! But I didn’t think Link would appreciate me spilling his secret.”

“C’mon!” Wind whined, “just tell us!”

Time shook his head, “I’m old enough to drink, and that’s all you will ever know.”

“But,” Malon whispered to them, “as a gift to y’all, if you have a new guess I’ll tell y’all how close y’all are.”

“They’ll never get it anyway,” Time said almost proudly.

“It’s just a bit of fun!” Malon teased, “now, let’s cut the cake before I give you your present.”

So they did, with Malon doing the honor of passing around plates. Sky took the sweets gratefully and immediately dived in.

“This is amazing!” Sky beamed.

Malon chuckled, “thank you, I got the recipe from the Wild Boy over there, so thank him.”

Everyone took a plate, except for Legend, who politely declined. Malon frowned, but moved on. He was already awkward as it is, and he didn’t think eating cake would help him.

“So,” Malon put her hands on her hips, “when are y’all boys’ birthdays? I never got most of your ages last time.”

“My birthday was actually yesterday,” Sky rubbed his head nervously, “I also forgot.”

Twilight raised his hand, “mine was the 19th.”

“Wow,” Malon nodded, “three birthdays so close. I’m sorry I didn’t have something planned.”

“It’s alright,” Sky shook his head, “this cake is enough!”

“Happy birthday, though!” Wind cheered.

“Yes,” Malon turned to the rest, “now, what about the rest of you?”

“December 2nd,” Four answered.

“December 13th!” Wind jumped up and down.

“February 21st,” Hyrule supplied.

“August 14th,” Warriors looked around, “what’s with all the winter births?”

“I think March 3rd,” Wild hesitated, “though I would need to check.”

Suddenly, Legend felt nine pairs on eyes on him.

“What?” He asked.

“When’s your birthday?!” Wind prodded.

“Oh,” Legend paled, “it’s, it’s... June...6th...”

“Doubt,” Warriors remarked, “Wild gave a more confident answer.”

“I’ve time traveled a lot!” Legend tried to save himself, “so sue me if I lost track!”

“I think you would remember the date,” Warriors pointed out, “like Time did, but you could forget what day or year it is.”

“Come on now, boys,” Time stood up, “this isn’t an interrogation.”

“You reacted when Malon said the date,” Four remembered and ignored Time, “why?”

“I just didn’t know what the date was, okay?”

“Is it because your birthday is actually a lot closer?”

Legend froze, and that gave everyone the confirmation that they needed.

“So what!?” Legend sneered, “it just so happens that my birthday is also today, alright!”

“Oh,” Four responded, stunned.

“Yeah,” Legend replied, “let’s just moved on. I don’t celebrate my birthday anyway. I don’t see a point when I’m probably older than I’m supposed to be.”

“Well,” Malon smiled, “happy birthday regardless. An odd coincidence that you share a birthday with my husband.”

Her eyes knitted together on that sentence. If Legend didn’t know any better, he’d say she was just curious, but he knew she was suspicious.

“Eh,” Legend scrunched up his face, “maybe the gods just liked these days. Sky and Twilight are close, too.”

She wasn’t convinced. What had this lady seen that made her think something like a birthday was a sign of relation? Coincidences must have been minimal in her life.

They went back to eating cake and chatting. When they were done, Wild and Sky took the plates and started to do the dishes. Malon then forced her husband to stand up.

“Time for your present!” She gestured for him to follow her, “come with me. You two, too, I need some help.”

She pointed to Twilight and Legend. Twilight happily complied and Legend slunked as he walked after the three. Once they were in the other room, Malon closed the door with a soft click.

“I really do hope I got this right,” she muttered, “it would be embarrassing if I didn’t. Am I right, Dear?”

Time smiled, “yes, Darling.”

Oh, so this is what this is, Legend realized. He’d been trapped! Now he couldn’t escape from any questions Malon asked.

“I can’t believe there are two of y’all who are related to us,” she looked at the two young adults, “it’s incredible!”

“Actually,” Legend raised a finger, “the you I’m related to isn’t really you, so-“

“Don’t care!” She stopped him, “my blood is my blood, and you are my grandchild or something, so don’t deny it!”

Twilight started to snicker as she poked and prodded Legend like she did to him when she found out. Legend glared at him and mentally promised revenge.

“He kept a little bit of the red hair,” she pointed out his pink strand, “is this natural?”

“That’s a personal question,” he deflected.

“Certainly got the mysterious trait from you,” she tutted, “and the messy hair!”

“Hey!”

Finally, she backed away and wrapped her hand around Time.

“Now, I can really tell you your present,” she beamed.

“Should we be here?” Twilight asked.

“Yes!” Malon responded quickly, “I was planning on you being here, Twi, but since Link told me about Legend, I wanted him here as well.”

“Do I get a say in this?” Legend asked

“No!”

“What’s with the secrecy?” Time asked sarcastically, “are you getting the mysterious trait from me, too?”

She laughed, “hush. I hope you’re ready for this!”

She backed away from all of them and spoke.

“We’ve known for awhile that this, us, is going to last thanks to him,” she pointed to Twilight, “and I couldn’t be more excited to finally see the start of a legend, of multiple legends.”

She winked at the last bit. She also patted her stomach. Time’s eyes widened and for the first time Legend saw shock on his face.

“Malon,” he said warily, “are you saying?”

She burst out in tears of joy, “I’m pregnant!”

Time broke character and ran to his wife. Delicately picking her up in his arms he spun her around while laughing.

“That’s,” he smiled, “wonderful!”

“That’s amazing,” Twilight gasped.

“C-congratulations,” Legend stuttered out. He was not prepared for the emotional rollercoaster that was that day.

“In a couple months,” Malon held Time, “we will welcome our blessing of a daughter into the world.”

“Daughter?” Twilight asked, “how do you already know.”

“I’ve got Gerudo in my veins,” Malon answered, “my mother came from the desert. No way we are having a son.”

“As my Zelda always tells me,” Legend stated, “better to have ten daughters than one son. I think that was her way of saying how she wishes I wasn’t born, but can’t say I don’t agree.”

Malon laughed and kissed her husband one more time. Legend was spooked when Twilight nudged him, almost in a brotherly way.

This is what it felt like to be in a close family, he thought, it felt... warm. Way warmer than him and his uncle all alone in a war-torn part of Hyrule.

He felt at home.

Later, Malon and Time would announce the news to everybody else. And it was a very joyous household that night.

Months laters, after leaving a returning multiple times, the big day had finally arrived. Thank the goddesses, as they had arrived moments before Malon went into labor.

Most of the Link’s were kicked out of the house. Warriors was ordered to find a doctor and he took Wind with him. Hyrule was to make sure he had healing magic at the ready in case something bad happened. The others were standing outside, waiting for news.

Twilight and Legend had the honor of being in the room. Legend almost ran out five different times, but he was impressed by Malon’s curse word vocabulary and her strength throughout the whole thing. Twilight didn’t even flinch, giving some nonsense about helping many animals give birth.

What? All those goats that are in your pocket? Legend remembered the threat.

Thankfully, it happened quickly and Malon gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Malon was tired, but she was alright.

“That was gross,” Legend said as he walked out, “everyone, they said you could come in.”

Wind yelled happily. Him and Warriors never found a doctor, so they were worried that something could’ve gone wrong.

Once they were all inside, Time introduced them to his child. It was a tiny thing, Legend almost had the severe urge to drop kick it, and you could see tiny wisps of red hair. Her eyes were the brightest blue and rivaled Twilight’s.

“May I introduce,” Time rocked her, “Lady Navi of Lon Lon Ranch.”

“So formal,” Warriors said quietly, “she’s beautiful.”

“Can I hold her?” Wind asked in wonder, “I know how to!”

“Of course,” Malon sighed.

Navi was passed around to all the Links. Wind said how much she reminded him of Aryll when she was born. Sky cooed at her and couldn’t stop thinking about his future with Zelda. Four simply smiled and Hyrule rocked her a bit. Warriors promised to help in any way he could with the baby and Wild refused to hold her.

“Sorry,” he apologized, “I don’t want to accidentally drop her.”

“Thanks for that, Wild!” Legend groaned as he was then handed Navi. He looked down at her, “uh, hi?”

No response, clearly.

“Alright, Twilight!” He panicked, “you take her.”

Twilight did gratefully, though it was a little weird for him, holding his direct ancestor. If he dropped her he could kill his whole bloodline.

“What are we to her, then?” Twilight asked, “she my great-grandmother somewhere, but what about now.”

A couple months ago, the beans spilled of Legend and Twilight being related to Time, so they no longer had to keep it a secret. Thanks, Hyrule.

“We could be her uncles,” Legend suggested.

“Wouldn’t we be more along the lines of nephews?” Twilight asked.

“I am not called an infant aunt.”

“Would you rather call her grandmother?”

“Nephews it is.”

Malon and Time smiled at each other and looked back Navi. After all these years, they had finally found their fairy, they would just have to be the guardians now.

Chapter Text

Time was not amused. Currently, he was staring up at the man who deemed himself his father, the Fierce Deity. Time had crossed his arms and his face held a frown, whereas the Deity’s had his hands on his hips and a smirk gracing his lips.

Ever since the Fierce Deity broke out of his mask, he had been a nuisance, at least, in Time’s opinion. He made himself look less frightening to passerby’s, shrinking a bit and removing the glowing eyes, but he refused to get rid of his markings and he still wanted to be taller than Time.

“It shows our family resemblance,” he argued.

“We are not family!” Time rebuked.

And that’s how Time came to be staring up at a god in the form of a mortal.

“This is awesome,” Legend walked in on the staring contest, “Old Man in a fight with his old man.”

“We are not fighting.”

“Not my father.”

They spoke at the same time and neither looked in Legend’s direction.

“Sure,” he shrugged, “what’s it this time? Did Time get in trouble?! Is Time grounded?!”

He bounced up and down at the thought. The only actual adult in their group being grounded would be hilarious.

“This is ridiculous,” Time snarled.

The Fierce Deity mused, “grounded? I guess you could say that. Isn’t that right, Son?”

“Don’t call me son!”

“Yo, Pops,” Legend asked the god, “why is he grounded?”

The Deity beamed, “see? He gets it! Anyway, he simply wasn’t using the tools that he has in his arsenal to their fullest potential. Since he wasn’t going to use them, I decided he didn’t need them.”

“I did not use them,” Time gritted his teeth, “because I respect the souls inside them!”

The Deity waved him off, “but didn’t they tell you that you could call on them anytime? I saw a million and five ways in the last battle alone that Mikau could’ve been used. The little sailor wouldn’t have broken his bone with him here.”

Legend called out, “whomst? Who’s Mikau?”

“None of your business,” Time snapped, “Wind’s arm isn’t my fault and you have no right to tell me what to do with Mikau.”

“Believe what you will, Son,” the Deity shook his head, “why don’t we ask Mikau, then?”

“Mikau isn’t even fully here! He’s more me than him when it comes to thoughts.”

“Then why shouldn’t you use his form if it’s just you?”

Legend leaned against the nearest wall and watched the fireworks. It was entertaining to see Time, who usually towers above everyone, look like a five year old fighting with his dad. He bickered, uncharacteristically, with the god and said god didn’t even flinch.

“Now, Son...”

“If you were truly my father, you’d be dead.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“Give them back!”

“No, you are grounded, as the rat so eloquent put.”

Hey! Legend wanted to shout, but realized it wasn’t worth it.

The fighting continued for another half hour. Slowly, the other Links trickled in.

“What’s going on?” Wind asked, arm in a sling. Four was standing beside him.

“Time’s fighting with his dad,” Legend patted the ground next to him, “wanna watch?”

“F*ck yeah!”

“Wind,” Four sighed and sat down, “stop swearing.”

“Make me.”

The next group that came in was comprised of Warriors, Hyrule, and Sky. Warriors agreed to watch, as long as he could have his shield in front of him. Hyrule did the same.

“I’m getting Twi,” Sky walked out, “he can calm Time down.”

“Your loss,” Legend yelled after him.

Five more minutes of arguing passed. Bets were being placed on who would throw the first punch... and who would lose the following fight. Time wasn’t looking good for either bet.

“You are acting like a child,” the Fierce Deity pointed out, “act your age.”

“I can act how ever I damn well please!” Time shouted, “I never got to be a child, and you know that!”

“Your children are watching.”

“Then just give me back my masks, and this will all be done.”

“No.”

Sky arrived again, this time with Twilight and Wild in tow. Twilight looked at the fight with concern, while Wild gave a huff of amusement.

“How do we stop them?” Twilight worried, “they could destroy this whole province if this escalates to an actual fight.”

“You don’t know?” Sky’s eyes widened.

“Why would I know how to stop a god and Time from fighting? I’ve never seen him like this.”

“Fine,” it appeared that the Fierce Deity was actually tiring of the argument, “if you insist on not acting your age, then I suppose I will have to make you.”

Twilight sensed the threat in the tone and ran forward to try to stop what ever would happen. He was too slow, because all that was required was for the Deity to snap his fingers and light filled the room.

Everyone was blinded, except for Hyrule and Warriors, who hid behind their shields. When they poked their heads out to see what happened, Warriors caught sight of someone who he thought he’d never see again.

Everyone’s eyes cleared to see, right below the eight foot tall god, a four foot child in a green tunic standing there. No one moved, now even Twilight.

But the child did talk.

“So,” the shrill voice shrieked, “causing yourself to be taller doesn’t change the fact that you took my belongings. You are not my father and therefore had no right to do that. And another thing-“

“Time?” Twilight asked uncertainly.

The child’s head swiveled to look at Twilight, but he found himself looking at his stomach. He looked up to see the confusion on the rancher’s face.

“Oh,” he said softly and looked at his hands, “oh.”

“Holy sh*t!” Wind whispered, “he’s babey.”

Four shushed him.

The child Time clenched his hands and looked up at the Deity, who seemed proud of himself.

“This is a low blow,” Time growled.

“Literally,” Legend cupped his hands to his mouth to amplify his sound.

“Legend,” Time didn’t even look at him, but Legend still felt the glare, “talk again and you are dead.”

He stiffened and didn’t say another word. The Deity crouched down to reach Time’s new height, though he still towered above him.

“Maybe now you’ll learn to listen, Son,” he cooed and ruffled Time’s hair.

Time slapped his hand away, “are you going to give me back my masks now, *Dad*?”

His voice dripped with malice. Twilight backed away a little, fearful of the unknown form of his ancestor.

The Fierce Deity beamed, not getting the sarcasm, “maybe in a few years. You never were a child, so now is your chance!”

Time got angry, “what?”

He attempted to pull the Biggoron Sword off his back, but comically fell over with the weight. He wasn’t used to the difference of weight and height, even if he could wield the sword in the past.

The Deity gave a hearty laugh, “out of touch, I see!”

Time stood up, tossing aside his no longer trusty sword. Inside, he reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out...a slingshot?

“What are you going to do with that?” The Deity asked in a patronizing tone.

He gave no response. Instead, he quickly pointed it directly at the Fierce Deity’s eye and fired a deku nut. It hit its mark and the Deity felt pain from the nut and blindness from the flashing produced by it. He heard a second pop and when he could see again, Time was no longer in front of him.

“What,” Hyrule coughed, waving away the smoke, “was that?”

“Since when did Time have a slingshot?” Wild looked to Twilight.

“Where’d he go?” Twilight asked, nearly shouting.

The Fierce Deity stood up to his full height. He seemed annoyed.

“Son...” he hissed.

“I have a lot of items that none of you know about,” Time’s voice echoed from somewhere in the room, “items that only a child could use.”

There was some quick music being played from an ocarina. Suddenly, it started to rain indoors. A childish laugh rang from somewhere, it’s origin being lost with the excess noise.

“It seems you have forgotten where I was raised and by whom,” a boomerang smacked the Deity in the face before flying off into nothingness, “I was raised by the Kokiri and friends with Skull Kids.”

Time reappeared with his bunny hood in his hands, “it’s better that I was never a child. You have no idea how much of a menace I could have been.”

He put on his hood and zoomed out of sight, leaving the eight Heroes and one god to stand there, befuddled.

“Oh, yeah,” Wind spoke first, “I am going to love this!”

The Fierce Deity was at a loss for words. It seemed that he didn’t know what demon he unleashed unto the world.

The next few days were a living hell for the group. Well, for some of them, at least.

Wind, as mentioned before, was loving every second of the chaos that a young Time wrought. Wild, as well, was enjoying the destruction. Everyone was also pretty sure that those two helped Time in whatever prank he planned.

For the most part, Warriors, Hyrule, Sky, and Four got ignored. They only got scared by Time sparingly. Warriors actually got to talk to the child when everyone else was asleep, and he commented on how weird it was to see Young Link again.

Time shrugged, “feels the same to me. I don’t fit in any body, so this weirdness is nothing new.”

For the last three members of the group, though, it was terrible.

Twilight’s older brother instinct kicked in, seeing a bit of Talo in Time’s antics, and constantly worried if he was getting himself hurt. He shouldn’t have to be worrying about the man who he saw as a father figure, he thought. But did that stop him? No, he worried even more.

Legend regretted ever speaking, as he was the one to get the second most of Time’s pranks. One day he woke up with completely pink hair and a fluffle of bunnies in his tent. That was only the least annoying prank that he was the recipient of.

Finally, the Fierce Deity now knew what it meant to have a child. He never got a moment alone, as he was always being demented by Time in one way or another. To make it worse, he couldn’t die, so Time was able to do a number of dangerous pranks on him.

Pranks that involved pushing him off a cliff, for instance. Or putting bees near him at all times. OR placing his useless Biggoron Sword right where he was about to step, causing him to stab himself through the foot.

Overall, a lovely time.

“Just give him back the masks!” Twilight groaned on day six of the Tiny Time Terror.

“No,” the Fierce Deity shook his head, “he hasn’t learned his lesson.”

“At the very least, change him back,” he suggested, “please, I am going crazy.”

“You’re going crazy?” The sound of bees filled the god’s ears.

Twilight slammed his face into his hands, “how is he even sneaking around?”

The Deity sighed, “his stone mask.”

Twilight stared at him, exasperated, “I think you took the wrong masks.”

“No,” the Deity shook his head, “believe me, it would be way worse if he had-“

“Are you talking about these?” Time popped up from behind them. He was holding three distinct masks: a zora, a goron, and a deku scrub.

“How?” The Deity groaned.

Time stuck his tongue out, “I was taught by thieves and know magic. You figure it out! It did take a while, though; I had to wear you down first.”

“That’s it,” Twilight tossed his hands in the air, “I’m done. Time, don’t kill anyone, and I’m out of here.”

“No promises!” Time called after him before turning his mischievous smile to the Deity, “so, Dad, ready to play?”

A few seconds later the Fierce Deity was seen running away from a speeding goron. Wild saw the chase and caught the spirit.

“Yeah, brother!” He called, “rock and roll!”

If he was truly the one saying that, no one knew.

The following week was filled with even more anarchy. This time, it wasn’t only Legend and the Deity being attacked, but everybody.

Four and Sky were jump-scared by a deku scrub every other hour. Warriors lost a wrestling match to a goron, badly, and had to eat a rock as consequence. Wind’s Wind Waker was constantly stolen to be used to help a certain zora toss their fins farther. Wild almost got ran over by the goron. Legend was spat at and attacked more times than he could count. Hyrule could never trust where he was standing for fear of being over a sprout’s temporary home.

The Fierce Deity got the worst of it. Time’s chanting of “Dad, Dad, Dad” was following him at all times. He couldn’t sit down, eat, or even breathe without being attacked. At some point Time decided to mess with him and leave him alone for an hour, but the Deity looked over his shoulder constantly and was even more on edge.

Twilight, meanwhile, found a quiet place in the woods to drink some milk. He hummed and playing with Ilia’s charm. And, when the screams got too loud, he hummed even louder.

Then, there was nothing. Two weeks of torment and then radio silence from the chaos child. It would’ve been a relief, if not for the fear that held them all together.

“Where is he?” Legend pulled at his now neon green hair, “change him back!”

“I don’t know,” the Deity rubbed his eyes, “I don’t have a tracker on him.”

“Seriously,” Four groaned, “you’re a god.”

“A god who is very tired.”

The group was all together, trying to figure out what to do. Twilight came out of his woods and he was smiling contently.

Suddenly, “boo!”

They all jumped back, flinching, as Time reappeared, laughing. It was odd that they never saw Time as happy as he was when he tortured them.

“This has been fun,” he wiped away his tears, “but I think you all have had enough.”

“Thank Hylia!” Legend cried for the first time in his life.

“So, Dad,” he hopped over to the tired god, “I’m ready!”

Weakly, the Deity snapped his fingers and there was a flash of light. Time was back to his normal self and looking very smug.

“Take this as a lesson to never mess with me again,” he smiled.

Everyone breathed a sigh a sigh of relief. Wild ran up to Time.

“Teach me your chaotic ways,” he pleaded.

“No!” Twilight pushed him away, “we are never dealing with this again.”

“Yes,” the Deity stood up and beamed, “especially since this all went to plan.”

“Excuse me?” Time crossed his arms, “last I checked I almost had a god kneeling before me.”

The Fierce Deity waved him off, “I am not Majora, Son. But, I stand by what I said, you learned your lesson. *You used your masks to their potential*.”

Time froze, “you...you bastard! You didn’t plan this!”

Hyrule collapsed, “if he planned this, I might kill him.”

“You called me Dad!”

“Shut up!”

Chapter Text

“I really, really hate you, Wild,” Legend slammed his head into the ground.

“Hey!” Wild protested, “it’s not my fault you tried to steal Twilight’s necklace!”

“How was I suppose to know it would do this?!”

Earlier in the day, Wild had spotted Legend lurking around Twi’s tent. He was suspicious, but they seemed to have been getting along better ever since their connection was revealed to everyone, so Wild moved along. Later, after Twilight went to sleep, Wild saw Legend walk into his tent and walk out with a pouch.

A pouch that contained a very powerful piece of magic that Twilight didn’t let anyone near.

Only Wild, Time, and Four knew what the stone could do, so Wild immediately went up to take it back. Legend ran away, proclaiming that he just wanted to study it and see if it was dark magic, and Wild only caught up when they were in the trees. He tried to fight for it back, but that just opened the back and both of them touched the stone.

And that’s how there were now two wolves snarling at each other.

Wild had turned into a maraudo wolf from his time. He had light blue fur on his left and slightly darker blue fur on his right. His tail’s fur was exceptionally long and it trailed behind him. His scars transitioned over to his wolf form by having a bit of his left ear missing and his whole left side being bumpy as fur tried to grow over the injuries.

Legend turned into a wolf neither of them recognized, but he had most blond fur with some brown mixed in. His underbelly inherited his pink streak and was a light bubblegum color. His pegasus boots turned into longer tuffs of hair on his legs and his skirt made longer fur on his back, but not his tail.

When comparing sizes, Wild was the larger wolf by far. His legs alone were bigger than Legend. He didn’t know whether that made Wild big or him small, but Legend called bull.

Perception wise, Wild, while upset with Legend for stealing, couldn’t wait to try out his new form. He was always jealous of Twilight being able to have this kind of freedom, but now he could run wild. He could already feel the wind on his fur, begging him to soar.

Legend, on the other hand, was hating every second of his existence. It was better than being a completely pink humanoid bunny, but it wasn’t much better. He didn’t look dumb, but at least then he could stand up right.

This doesn’t make any sense, he growled, unless it does... wait a minute!

The gears worked in his head and he barked at Wild.

“Twilight was Wolfie this whole time?!”

Wild sat on his hind legs, “yeah, but he didn’t want anyone to know.”

“Good going, then,” Legend replied sarcastically, “now I know, and the rest are gonna know if we can’t figure out a way to change back!”

“All I know is that Twilight uses the stone to change back and forth,” Wild informed him, “I don’t know how though. We’re going to have to go get him.”

Legend shook his head, “no! He won’t understand us, and there is no way I’m letting anyone see me like this.”

“Stop whining! You stole the necklace, so this is your fault. Besides, Twilight can talk to animals, clearly, and no one will know it is us. No one’s realized that Twi was Wolfie unless they’ve witnessed the magic first hand. We’re all kind of dense.”

Legend wanted to retort, but it was the truth. No one had found out that he and Time were related until Hyrule snitched, so Wild was correct at their observation skills.

“If you do anything to give us away when we change back,” Legend threatened, “I will kill you.”

“You’ll have to catch me first!” Wild started to run back to camp. For someone who had never ran on four legs before, Wild managed well as he sprinted faster than most normal wolves.

“Hey!” Legend cried and he promptly tripped over his paws. Pathetically, he had to walk slowly before being able to run. Even then, his running was slow, which he cursed his height for his short stride.

By the time he made it back to the outside of their camp, Wild was sitting there, with a satisfied smirk on his snout. His long tail waved back and forth and he gestured his head toward camp, telling Legend to follow him.

“Couldn’t’ve slow downed,” he muttered and tried not to listen to the reactions of the Heroes as they made their way to Twilight. Twilight happened to be on the very far end of camp, too, so it was very hard not to hear.

“Uh,” Hyrule spoke first, “there’s two wolves!”

“They seem friendly,” Sky observed, “maybe they’re friends with Wolfie?”

“No,” Four shook his head, “Wolfie is his own enigma. Maybe they’re just tamed?”

“This one’s cute!” Wind commented, pointing to Legend, “can I pet him?”

He backed up when Legend growled at him. Wild gave him a side ways glance.

“That isn’t nice,” he pointed out.

“If anyone touches me,” Legend glared, “they’re losing a hand.”

They finally made it to Twilight, who was in the middle of a conversation with Time. They both somehow didn’t notice the commotion that the wolves started up. Wild gave a soft bark and got their attention.

“What?” Twilight looked down and saw one smiling and one snarling wolf, “how?”

Time stood there amused, “it seems this is a hereditary trait.”

Twilight patted his chest, looking for his pouch, “my...it’s gone. Did you take it?”

He directed the question to Wild. Offended, he shook his head and moved his whole body to point to Legend. Legend just stopped snarling.

Twilight sighed, “really?”

“Hi, Twi!” Wild barked and wagged his tail.

“Cub,” he groaned, “you knew what the stone could do. Why did you touch it?”

“Legend tried to steal it,” Wild explained, “I was getting it back, but the bag opened.”

“In my defense,” Legend defended, “I only wanted to know what kind of magic it was. Can you remove it now.”

“I don’t know,” Twilight shrugged, “I’ve only ever had to change myself back, that or use a spirit. Maybe... Time?”

Time looked shocked that he was bringing *that* up, “if it’s the only way, then we’ll have to be away from everyone.”

“I’ll meet you guys once I tell everyone some lie,” Twilight informed them.

“Alright,” Time started walking, “come along, Kit, Cub.”

Wild cantered alongside Time, swerving in and out, and just overall having a grand time. Legend still stumbled as he walked, but he was determined not to trip in front of everyone.

“How come you said it was hereditary,” Legend looked up to Time once they were out of the camp.

Time didn’t look down, “I’m not like Twilight, Kit, I can’t understand you.”

Wild answered instead, “it’s because wolves run in the family.”

“Why are you a wolf, then?”

“Remember how I told you that all of us are dense?”

Legend wanted to hit himself, “you’re also related?”

He bounced, “yup! Twilight’s my great-something grandfather.”

“Great,” Legend muttered, “I’m related to an arsonist.”

“This should be good,” Time interrupted his thoughts and they were in a clearing, “let’s wait for Twilight.”

Moments later, Twilight ran into the clearing. Once he took a second to breathe, he looked at the two all over.

“It’s odd that you both were able to change,” he commented, feeling Legend’s forehead for something, “you must’ve touched the stone at the same time.”

“Can you stop that?” Legend tried to move away.

“No!” Twilight stated, “the stone becomes a part of you when you change, I’m looking for it. Wait, there it is!”

He tapped Legend on the forehead once more and then he was pushed away from them by magic. Twilight fell hard on the ground and black magic overtook him. When the magic dispersed, Wolfie was in front of him.

“It’s definitely in you,” Twilight walked up to them, “you could learn how to take it out, but that would take ages, unless Time can-“

“Why am I so small!” Legend complained. With Twilight right next to them, he could make out the height difference even more. Twilight was slightly taller than Wild, and he didn’t like it.

“The Twili magic reflects your personality,” Twilight glared, “maybe it’s because of your short temper, cousin.”

“Stop fighting, boys,” Time said in a calm voice.

They looked over to see a forth wolf, one that only one of them had seen before. It was even larger than Twilight and was a brilliant glowing gold. Oddly, one of its eyes, the only one that worked, was a piercing red.

“Time?” Legend asked, “how?”

Time sat beside them, “while what you experience is Twili magic, I recently learned to change form using light magic. Hopefully that will be of use to changing you back.”

Twilight nodded, “Twili magic is very similar to dark magic, with some key differences, and it shares the same weaknesses. Over exposure to light magic could force you back to normal, if we have enough.”

“How come you never use this in battle?” Wild questioned, “like Twi does.”

“This is only something I’ve learned recently,” Time explained, “so it still takes a lot of my energy. Enough talk, now, before the other get suspicious.”

Wild whimpered, “do we have to do?”

“Yes!” Legend barked.

“This could be dangerous,” Time warned, “so, don’t do anything idiotic.”

“They already have,” Twilight rolled his eyes and moved to sit behind Time.

Time closed his eyes and concentrated. Slowly, light crept out of him and it moved towards the two smaller wolves. It grew in intensity until no one could see anything. When the light was gone, Wild and Legend were back to human form with two small stones at their feet.

“Nice going,” Twilight changed back and used part of his glove to pick up the stones, “you broke my stone into three parts.”

“At least we’re back to normal,” Legend stood up, cleaning off the dirt on his tunic.

“I hope you learned not to steal,” Time said once he too was back to normal.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Old Man.”

Wild, meanwhile, was pouting at Twilight. Twilight was glaring back at him and they were having a silent conversation. Evidently, the rancher lost the argument.

“Fine,” he side and handed Wild a pouch and the stone, “I can’t use these pieces and I’d rather they weren’t laying them around. You can have them.”

“Yes!” Wild jumped, “please teach me how to change back.”

“Later,” Twilight looked to Legend, “do you want to be a wolf when you want, too?”

He thought for a moment. It would be an asset in fighting if he used it like Twilight, but he was embarrassingly small. Though, no one would know it was him.

“Sure,” he swiped the pouch that was hanging in front of him, “as long as you tell no one.”

“Same to you, cousin.”

“Come on,” Time ruffled the two’s hairs, “let’s get back to camp.”

Chapter Text

“You guys are going to love Sidon!” Wild gushed, “he’s so friendly and nice!”

“You seem to really like this Sidon,” Legend implied, “are you two close?”

“He was my first friend after waking up!” Wild didn’t catch his meaning, “and he helped me anyway he cou- hey!”

Legend laughed as he got hit on the head by Wild. He didn’t regret it.

“We’re close,” Wild grunted, “we should be at the domain in a bit.”

They were following the Zora River and were wary of any monsters. When Wild realized that none of them had seen his Zora’s Domain, he demanded that they go there. Hyrule and a few others were worried, having only met hostile Zoras, but he assured them otherwise.

He was going to make them see how nice his Zoras were. And, what better way to do that then show them his best friend.

After passing one bridge and going to the small path that wound up to the Domain, Twilight spotted something. He pointed it out to everyone.

“I know you said that your Zoras are big,” he commented, “but there is no way they are that big.”

He was pointing to a very large Zora that was leaning against the wall right next to another bridge. Hyrule instinctively grabbed his sword.

“Wait, what,” Wild glanced at the Zora and nearly tripped, “how?!”

“They shouldn’t be that big, then?” Sky asked.

“No!” He clawed his face, “the only one that is that big is King Dorephan.”

“Maybe we should just ask them?” Time suggested, “might be some magic.”

Wild nodded while mumbling, “why are they this far away from the Domain, anyway?”

Once they were closer to the giant, Legend shouted up at it.

“HEY, BIG GUY!”

The Zora turned around, causing a couple of them duck as one of his fins came too close, and his face gave off a questioning look. He tilted his head to the side before beaming at the sight of Wild.

“Link!” He boomed, “it’s good to see you again, my friend!”

Wild choked, “S-sidon?”

The giant, Sidon, didn’t answer. Instead, he picked Wild up by the waist and hugged him fiercely. With someone as reference, the Links could see that Sidon was taller than all of them combined, Wild being smaller than his face.

“Sidon,” he gasped, “explain.”

“Oh,” the Prince apologized, “sorry, my friend.”

He sat Wild carefully on his left shoulder, which Wild would’ve been fine about if not for the unanswered questions, and looked at him.

“You see,” Sidon smiled, “Princess Zelda is studying here for the moment and doing some experiments.”

“Zelda should be in Hateno,” Wild raised an eyebrow, “did she-“

“She and the Doctor blew up their lab,” he interrupted, “so, I offered her a place to work here, because I knew she would blow up your house without the lab.”

“...thanks.”

Sidon nodded, “I happened to walk in on one of their experiments at the wrong time. They were working on a potion to make things bigger and smaller, inspired by the legends of the Picori, and I happened to spill some on me.”

Wild smacked his head, “why?”

He didn’t answer, “I almost destroyed the room we were in! Luckily, I was near the door and got out in time. Sadly, the Domain isn’t meant for those as big as me, regardless of my father, so I have to stay here until the potion wears off.”

“How long?”

“Either a week or if Princess Zelda can fix the shrinking potion. Now, enough about me, who are your friends?”

He refused to listen to Wilds complaints and crouched down to wave to the new people. All the Links introduced themselves and Sidon greeted them eagerly.

“You’re the Heroes that Link has written about,” he realized.

“He’s told us a lot about you, too,” Twilight said, “he wanted to get Hyrule comfortable with Zoras, he’s only met violent ones.”

“I understand,” Sidon beamed at Hyrule, who was hiding behind Legend, “I am sorry that you had to meet me like this, friend! But, I promise, I am very polite and I would never hurt a friend of Link’s.”

Hyrule just buried himself deeper into Legend tunic. Legend, meanwhile, was getting annoyed.

“While I’m honored,” Legend tried to push him off, “that you chose me as your human shield, but if you don’t get off me you won’t have to be afraid of Zoras anymore!”

“I am doing this,” Hyrule shouted, “because my first reaction right now is to kill any monsters I see!”

“Hyrule,” Wild growled.

“I’m going to do that!” Hyrule snapped back, “that’s why I am trying to stop myself!”

“Maybe you should go until the Princess fixes this?” Sidon suggested, “I do not wish to cause your friend discomfort. Nor do I wish harm to myself, if I am to be honest.”

“Great,” Legend said sarcastically, “now you can move, Hyrule!”

Slowly, the brunet came into the open and shook his head, “no, I need to be friendly. I know you aren’t like the Zoras of my time. It’s nice to meet you.”

For safety, he tossed his sword to the side and reached out his hand to Sidon. Sidon enthusiastically shook it and, when done, Hyrule tried not to rocket backwards.

“Prince Sidon!” A new voice called. It was Zelda, and she was running forward with a bottle in her hand, “I think I’ve got it.”

What happened next was unfortunate, yet hilarious. Because of the uneven footing of the path, Zelda’s foot caught on a rock and she fell. The potion she was carrying flew and hit Sidon. He quickly shrunk back down to his normal size, still large though, and everything seemed alright. Zelda stood up and carefully ran up to them.

“I am so sorry!” She cried, “twice in one day…”

“No worries, Princess,” Sidon looked around, “wait, where’s Link?”

They all simultaneously realized that Wild was missing. It was Four who found him and pointed at Sidon’s foot, where a tiny Wild was pouting.

“You’re never allowing me in a lab again, are you,” Zelda picked up her knight, trying not to laugh.

Oh, well, she’ll fix this later.

Chapter Text

Who. The f*ck. Was Wolfie. 

The thought had been on his mind constantly since he first met this odd ball of a group. Explosions were in his face every other second and there was a constant barrage of introductions to new powers. It was almost enough to drive him crazy. Still, nothing could distract him from the question. 

“Where’s Wolfie?” Wind looked to Wild, around a month into their journey, “I haven’t seen him in a while.”

Wild shrugged, “he comes and goes.”

Was Wolfie his dog? He never had a dog with him. Maybe it was a stray and he just missed it. 

Until after he came back from cleaning up after a battle one day. 

“Did you see T-Wolfie?” Four stuttered to everyone, “he jumped right in front of me to stop an attack and ran off, injured.”

Stupid mutt, he thought, how is it not dead yet. 

Over time, the mentions of this pet of Wild’s grew more and more, but how it was brought up was different. At first, the questions were where was the wolf, now they were questioning its health when it got hurt. 

Strange, but still stranger was the fact that, in a year, he had never encountered this ‘Wolfie’. So, who the heck was this dog? This was the question on Twilight’s mind.

Eventually, curiosity got the better of him. He wanted to meet this creature and, besides, he was always a sucker for dogs. He went up to Wild while everyone was away hunting and asked. 

“Who’s this Wolfie?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. 

Wild looked at him, shocked, “are you serious? Are you messing with me? Is this revenge for that time I covered your nose with pepper when you were asleep that one time?”

“What? No,” he paused and then glared, “you did that?”

“...no.” 

Twilight sighed, “whatever, I’m serious. I have never met your pet and I would like to.”

“You are messing with me,” Wild smiled, “calling Wolfie a pet, hilarious. You can stop it now.”

“Wild, I know it’s around a lot, but I am somehow never here when it’s here.”

The Champion looked shocked, “you are serious! Did you hit your head or something?”

“No,” Twilight scrunched up his face, “why is this so weird?”

Wild shook his head, “ask someone else the same question, see their reaction.”

Twilight huffed and walked away that was pointless. He went to a nearby river where Wind was fishing lazily. At the sound of branches breaking, the sailor turned around. 

“Hi, Twilight!” Wind waved, “I thought you were helping Wild.”

He sat next to him, “I wanted ask a question.”

“Okay!”

“Who’s Wolfie? Is it Wild’s pet or something?”

“Oh,” Wind said softly, “was that a secret?”

“What was that?”

“Nothing!” He shouted, “Wolfie’s Wolfie, he’s just an ordinary wolf, no magic at all. You would like him.”

The sailor clammed up and refused to say another word. Weird. His phrasing when describing Wolfie seemed rushed, or painfully obvious that he was lying. Weirder. 

No magic involved with this wolf, that was unlikely now. He needed to ask more questions. 

So, he asked the six remaining Links. Time didn’t even look him in the eye before walking away. Warriors crossed his arms and smirked before saying that Wolfie was a “perfectly normal mutt.” Legend rolled his eyes and commented that he wasn’t being slick. Hyrule stuttered out something that sounded like “whatever Wild said.” Four just looked confused. 

Sky, the final Link, was the only useful one. He beamed and explained that Wolfie came along with Wild when he first met the hero and it seemed to disappear and reappear when it wanted. When asked about magic, Sky just said that it was a divine blessing that allowed the beast to come. 

“Thank you, Sky,” Twilight walked away, “no one else will answer my questions.”

“Yeah,” Sky looked at the ground, “hope I was of use!”

And life went on. Wolfie came and went, with Twilight inexplicably always being asleep or hunting when it did. Maybe it just hated him, divine blessing and all. He spent enough time in dark and Twili magic, maybe it could smell that on him. 

He decided that meeting Wolfie wasn’t meant to be. He was a bit disappointed, but there were more dogs in the world. Twilight smiled just thinking about some of the hounds and cats that ran wild in Ordon. He couldn’t wait to get home. 

He pushed the thought of Wolfie out of his mind. The next time he even heard mention of it was a month later. He was walking back from buying something in the nearby village and saw everyone gathered around Wild and the fire. 

“Wild,” Legend rubbed his forehead, “control your pet. He’s giving me a headache.”

Pet? Was Wolfie in trouble?

“Don’t call him that,” Wild said, “it’s demeaning.”

“And he’s annoying!” 

“What is he playing at?” Warriors asked, “does he really think we don’t know?”

“Come on, guys,” Sky begged, “just play along, if he doesn’t want us to know, then there’s reason for him to know that we know.”

“That makes no sense,” Wind pouted, “I only pretended because I thought I was the only one who realized, but since everyone isn’t blind now, there’s no point.”

“Time,” Four looked up to their leader, “what do you think?”

Time hummed, “we should tell him, lying only causes separation.”

“How’d he ever think that this was a secret,” Legend sneered, “it’s so obvious!”

Twilight walked forward, “what’s obvious?”

“Perfect timing!” He tossed his arms in the arm, “we know you’re Wolfie, we’ve known since we met you, now please stop acting like an idiot!”

“Uh, what?” Twilight sat down his stuff. 

Legend groaned, “you: wolf. Us: aware. This: painful.”

“What he means to say is,” Wild elbowed his fellow hero in the stomach, “you don’t have to hide that you can change into a wolf anymore.”

“Yeah!” Four nodded, “it isn’t the weirdest ability any if us have. There’s no reason to be ashamed of it.”

Twilight leaned to the side, “I legitimately have no idea what you are talking about. I’m Wolfie? I think I would know if I could shape shift. Sky told me that it was a divine beast that hung around Wild.”

“I didn’t lie,” Sky spoke up, “I just assumed that’s how you transformed, with the help of the Goddesses, and you do hang out with Wild a lot.”

“Cut the act,” Warriors pleaded. 

“I will when there’s an act to cut,” he shouted back, “I am not a wolf! Time, you believe this?”

Time was silent for a second, giving Twilight a sense of dread. 

“I have seen it for myself,” he admitted, “you’ve changed in front of me, but I don’t think you knew I was there. For that, I am sorry.”

What? He stepped back, how?

“I hate magic and its use,” he argued, “I couldn’t possibly use something like that as often as y’all claim that Wolfie appears.”

“That’s just a cover,” Legend deflected, “a way for us not to suspect you. It failed, clearly.”

“If you aren’t a wolf,” Warriors began, “then how’d you survive the Twilight? I’ve experienced a less powerful version of its magic than you would have, but even only I could enter it with the Triforce of Courage. How’d you survive full immersion?”

“Same as you, then,” he raised his right hand, “the Triforce protected me.”

“By changing you into a wolf?”

“No!” His vision blurred, “I also...I had...help...”

If you want my help, you have to be a good boy and do as I say. 

Fierce, hehe, like a wolf! Fitting, I guess. Onward, Little Wolf!

You are a strange pup, aren’t you?

I thought it was cats that had nine lives, not dogs. 

You’re back to normal...great. I think I preferred how you looked in the Twilight.

Twilight suddenly fell to his knees and muttered, “Midna...”

If anyone was speaking or moving, he didn’t know. He was lost in a trance and wasn’t aware of his surroundings. He almost bolted when Wild put a hand on his shoulder. 

“It’s okay,” it was weird seeing his ward act like the mentor, “we aren’t afraid of Wolfie.”

Something in Twilight snapped. He stood upright and did the one thing that his scattered mind could process: he ran. He ran away from Wild, away from the other Heroes, into the forest and into the fading sun.

Where was he going? How fast was he running? Why was he running? He had no answers and he eventually collapsed on the ground in pain. He curled into a ball and grabbed his head, trying to block unheard noises. 

Look what the Twilight did to you!

What did it do? He was human, not a wolf!

No! No biting, and no barking either.

Midna, what happened? She knew, she knew everything. 

A MONSTER!

He wasn’t a monster, was he? Everyone back home loved him, they wouldn’t hurt him. 

You have turned into a Divine Beast.

That can’t be right. Wild’s Hyrule was the one with Divine Beasts. 

A wolf with blue eyes? Strange.

He whimpered pathetically, make it stop! He didn’t remember any of this. 

Hi, Wolfie! You wanna see a new trick I learned? You’re gonna love it. It’s called shield surfing.

Cub...

He couldn’t take it anymore, the pain, whether imagined or real, grew too much and he passed out. His body went limp as the sun was completely buried under the earth.

When he awoke, a million things hit him at once. The air had so many scents and he could see the farthest mountains. His muscles ached, yet they never felt stronger. He breathed heavily and took it all in. 

Why was he called the Hero of Twilight? Because he had embraced what laid between the light and dark, not being destroyed by it like others, and became more powerful. The reason the future of Hyrule would claim the titles of Divine Beasts and why the Twili praised the fiercest of creatures was his very existence. 

He stood up as a wolf and remembered everything. 

The wall of magic, the castle dungeon, the Princess. Ordon Province, a light spirit, the temple. Faron, Eldin, Lanayru. The Fused Shadow, the Master Sword, the mirror. The Twilight Realm, Ganondorf, the goodbye. 

He remembered it all. 

Midna was the one to awake him and he couldn’t believe it. He, an ordinary rancher who had never been outside of his town, was a monster that needed to save the world. She, at first, was cruel to him, but over time they were friends. She made him feel not like a monster. 

Then he became human again and again and again, having to constantly shift between his two forms. He loved it! It gave him freedom to explore and destroy; perhaps Midna had rubbed off on his him. 

But, she said goodbye, destroyed the mirror, and he would never see her again. He fell into despair and searched for away to meet her, somehow ending up in his Cub’s Hyrule. He was initially upset, though he soon became protective of his feral hero. 

He traveled with him everywhere, forgetting about his pains and woes. At some point he even forgot he had a mission and...that’s where it must have happened.

He was so angry at Midna for leaving, as well as sad, and it was making him miserable. He shoved those feelings deep down and locked any memory associated with them away. The majority of their time together was when he was a wolf, so he forgot he ever was one. Even with Wild, that seemed like another life. 

Before, he only recalled being in the Twilight for a short time and never had met his ward before this adventure. He would black out randomly and then wake up in his bed roll, so he thought he had just fallen asleep.  

The best way to describe it would have been a split personality. Link, the rancher human that was roughed up in the war, and the wolf, an evil mass that was kinder than any living Hylian, were their own beings. A Jekyll and Hyde situation that survived into meeting the Links. 

What now?

He looked around steadily. It was still nighttime and, judging by the moon in the sky, it was midnight. He glanced at the path that he had made running there. 

He could go back, but what would the others think? They said they were fine with the wolf part of him, but they also thought he was lying about not knowing about his power. Would they call him a fraud? Mock him? Call him weak when the realized that he forgot the majority of his mission because of how he couldn’t handle the loss of the love of his life?

He wanted to laugh, how did his mind break as badly as Wild’s. Wild was a blank slate that could be written on with his old memories, but Twilight was fractured. Fractured like the mirror that got him into this situation.

And he did it deliberately. He chose to forget and that made him responsible for gathering the pieces. After what happened with Ilia, he thought he was an expert on memory loss. Turned out he had a lot to learn. 

He shifted his body to point back to camp. He needed to go back, they were probably worried about him. It was time to stop running away from his problems and face them head on. 

He got ready to pounce and, as if by instinct, he bolted. Even without full awareness of his body, Twilight could tell he spent a long time in that form, as he moved perfectly. He remembered the excitement of running that fast, daring anyone to try to catch him. 

Against his judgment, his emotions got the better of him and he howled into the night sky. It was good to be back. 

He skidded to a half when he made to the outskirts of camp. His courage faded a little and he morphed back, but he still stepped forward. Wild was the first to see him. 

“Twilight!” He shouted and ran over, hugging him, “the others went out looking for you. I’m so sorry for-“

He stopped speaking when Twilight hugged him back harder. 

“Cub,” he cried, “I’m sorry.”

Wild gasped, “you remember? I was sure that that was in the future for you.”

“No,” he shook his head, “I’m sorry for forgetting you when I was supposed to help you remember.”

“It’s alright,” Wild smiled softly, “whatever the case was, it’s fine. At least we’re both here.”

“We are here,” Twilight nodded sadly, “we are...”

Chapter Text

“For personal reasons, I am now atheist,” Legend proclaimed to the ceiling.

The Links all sat up groggily. The last thing they saw was a bright golden light that filled their surroundings and brought them from the forests to this cushy dining room. They had never traveled that way before, so they had no idea what they were dealing with.

“Where are we?” Wind asked.

Legend patted out his skirt as he stood up, “my home, this is the castle’s dining room.”

“Fancy,” Twilight commented, “I thought you lived in a shack?”

He glared, “I only come here on holidays and at my sister’s request.”

Speak of the devil, because two oak doors opened to reveal the small form of Princess Zelda, elder twin sibling to Legend. She beamed at the sight of her brother and ran in.

“I knew I heard something,” she hugged him, “you’re back! Perfect timing.”

“Uh, Zelda,” Legend tried to push away from her, “too tight. What do you mean perfect timing?”

She stopped and started twiddling her fingers, “well, considering how you were brought here, you should know.”

Legend slapped his face and muffled a few curse words. Wind looked proud at some of the stuff he taught him from the pirates.

“What’s happening?” Time asked.

Zelda gestured back to the doors, “Mother’s home.”

“Wait, mother?” Hyrule’s voice filled with disbelief, “like your mother, Legend’s mother? She’s here?”

“You have a mother who’s alive?” Warriors pointed to Legend.

“Sadly,” he grumbled.

Zelda hit him in the side, “don’t say that! Mother has done everything for us-“

“Everything for you,” he argued, “meanwhile I had to fix her messes. She’s the reason I had to live with my uncle and didn’t know of you for years.”

The group sensed a lot of tension built up, and a very shaky family history. Legend looked like he wanted to bolt out a window and Zelda was trying her best to keep most of her feelings in.

“Link,” she grabbed his hand, “come on, she’s been waiting for you.”

He pulled away, “tell her sorry, that I’m in Lorule or something. Tell her or I tell her that you are in an illegal fighting ring. Again.”

“It’s not illegal anymore!” She shouted before collecting herself, “besides, Mother already knows you are here, that’s why she brought your friends. She wants to meet them.”

“Fine,” Legend jutted his head to tell the rest of the confused group to follow.

Who was their mother? That was the question on everyone’s mind. A witch? A sorcerer? How did they bring them here?

“So,” Wild tried to make conversation as they walked down a hallway, “what does your mother do?”

Zelda smiled and said “Everything!” at the same time Legend muttered “Nothing.”

Enlightening. The Princess realized the awkward silence was because of them being vague, so she tried to resolve everything. Or, ease their worries, because when was anything easy to resolve.

“You’ll see when you meet her,” she explained, “Mother is away a lot, doing things, so when she comes home it’s special! Sky, I think you’ll really like her.”

“Me?” Sky pointed to himself. Now he was really curious, was their mom like Impa or something? That would explain Legend’s reaction to her; she wasn’t exactly the kindest. It could work, considering the time travel that the Sheikah was adept at showing off.

While Sky was lost in thought, the group came to an even larger set of doors: the throne room. Legend slowly backed away.

“Maybe she doesn’t have to meet the others,” he stuttered out, “we wouldn’t want to bother them with one of our family fights.”

Zelda rolled her eyes, “quit being so dramatic! She’ll love them!”

“That’s what I’m worried about!”

His sister ignored him and she opened up the doors.

“Oh?” A woman, on what was supposed to be Princess Zelda’s throne, gasped, “Oracle, thank you, darling, you brought Legend and his friends!”

“Oracle?” Hyrule questioned.

“Legend?” Four focused on.

“You think I didn’t have this nickname before I met you?” Legend slumped over to his mother, who was now standing.

They could all see her clearly. They couldn’t pin point her age, as she looked young, yet had some maturity to her. She wore a long white gown that had intricate details sewn and cut into the fabric. Her hair was golden and was flowing behind her, part of it being tied into a braid that rested on her head like a crown. Her smile was bright and so were her eyes, a mix of blue and green that made it almost grey.

“Hey, mom,” Legend crossed his arms, “why are we here?”

His mother picked him up, making everyone realize that she was seven feet tall, and swung him around in a hug, “I am so happy to see you again, my little Hero!”

“I hate this family!” He shouted.

“Wow, I can’t believe Legend’s a rebellious teenager,” Warriors smirked and then looked at Sky, “are you okay over there?”

“Huh-huh,” Sky was hyperventilating, “Hylia?”

Legend’s mom, *Hylia*, stopped her hug and dropped her son like a rock at the sight of the Hero of the Skies. Her eyes widened and she quickly ran over to him. Sky tried not to quake at the towering sight of his Goddess hanging above him.

“Link,” she bent down slowly, “it’s been so, so long.”

Gently, she kissed Sky on the head and everyone lost their minds.

Hyrule immediately stared at Legend, looking for answers, but got none. Warriors dropped into a bow while internally yelling at the world. Four just nodded vaguely as he tried to comprehend what was happening. Twilight covered his face, why must his life be so complicated! Wild waved at the goddess, who waved back. Wind was starstruck at the sight of her. Finally, Time was emotionless as ever.

“H-how?” Sky stuttered, “L-legend, your son?”

Hylia chuckled, “we lived a long life together, but, after my mortal form passed, I became a goddess once more. Time passed, and my old bloodline...”

She glanced at Time. Her face tried to say sorry, but he didn’t even acknowledge her presence. Too long had he bowed down to a god who was never there, he wasn’t going to start bowing when she showed up.

“My old bloodline died out,” she continued, “but a mortal with the powers of light needed to exist to defeat Ganon, so that’s where my children come in. Oracle was the Princess that was needed, Legend was a happy surprise!”

“That’s code for,” Legend sneered, “‘let’s force him to be raised in poverty and then make him do all my chores.’”

“Why do you call your kids Oracle and Legend, your Grace?” Wild asked, “why not Princess Zelda and Link?”

Hylia patted Sky on the shoulder and looked to Wild, “as the Goddess of Time, I oversee all that has and will happen, so I know of all the different incarnations of the Hero and the Princess. Oracle and Legend are the names that history will remember them by, so that’s what I call them to avoid confusion. And you don’t have to call me ‘your Grace,’ Wild.”

Wild blushed at the last bit as she looked to the youngest hero.

“I have always wanted to meet you, Wind!” She sat down and crossed her legs, so she came up to Wind’s face.

“You know me?” He bounced up and down.

“Yeah,” Legend leaned on his head, “didn’t you know. Even though she’s my mother, you’re her favorite. She never shuts up about you when she comes home. ‘Oh, the Hero of Winds isn’t even a reincarnation, he claimed the title through courage alone!’”

“Link!” Zelda smacked him, “that was uncalled for.”

Hylia shook her head, “no matter what you think, I still love you, Son. I am just proud of all the things Wind has accomplished!”

“Thank you!” Wind, regardless of what Legend was saying, was happy. This was a god who told him that they were proud of him. That was so awesome!

“Yearly checkup complete!” Legend stormed off, “good riddance, mom, see you next year.”

“Legend-“ Hylia stood up and tried to stop her son, but he was too fast with his pegasus boots and he slammed the doors behind him.

“I’ll go get him, Mother,” Zelda started to walk when Hylia put a hand out to stop her.

“No, it’s alright,” she sighed, “this is better than last time, thankfully. I am so sorry you all had to witness this, and sorry that I brought you here. I just really wanted to meet you all and this is the time I am allowed to see my children again.”

“It’s alright,” Sky waved off, “Legend’s just had a bad day.”

She shook her head, “it’s my fault. Even with all my powers, I cannot defeat my sister’s champion, Din would cause more destruction than Ganon ever could if that happened. I needed my own champions. I’m sorry that burden fell onto you and your brother, Oracle.”

“I have made my peace with it,” Zelda explained, “I am glad to be of service to my kingdom and to my Mother.”

“Thank you,” Hylia took her daughter’s hand, “now, do I need to worry about the illegal fighting ring?”

“It’s not illegal! There are actual rules now!”

“Only joking,” she pinched her cheeks, “just be sure to show them what Hylians are made of. I never liked that Master that organized the events.”

Zelda bid her mother farewell and went off to do something. That left the goddess with eight of the Links.

“Should we find Legend?” Twilight looked to Wild.

“It’s too late,” Hylia explained, “he’s ran off to Lorule, it’s where he goes to sulk. I have no power over that place, so I can’t bring him back here unless he wants to.”

“Oh.”

She looked outside to see the fading sun, “I must go soon. The other gods only give me one day a year to see my children, which is the same rule they are given in return.”

“It was an honor to meet you,” Warriors bowed once more.

“Likewise,” she gestured to the door, “you all need to leave so that I can depart. Please tell my son that I love him, I really do.”

“Of course,” Sky agreed.

She kissed him on the head one more time, “it was great seeing you again, Link. I think you’ll like what your future has in store.”

“Bye, Zelda ,” he whispered back and left with the other Links.

Just before everyone made it out though, Hylia called out to the eldest.

“Hero of Time, may I speak with you for a moment?”

With a grunt, and a few worried glances, Time stayed behind. The door shut behind him and he looked up at the goddess.

“Is there something you need, your Grace,” he gritted his teeth. He tried to remember the training that he was given when he became captain of the royal guard, he had to be civil.

“I would like to apologize,” she stated, “you had your life taken away because of my failure to stop Demise. I instructed the Master Sword that I did not want children to wield it, but I don’t think Fi understood my meaning.”

Time’s eyes knitted together, was she saying that the seven years he was asleep was an accident. He was starting to dislike this Fi much more.

“How come, then,” Time glared, “ate Wind, Wild, Hyrule, and your own son wielders of the blade, all at a young age.”

She laughed sadly, “it’s funny, is it not? That as the Goddess of Time, I cannot control when my champion’s come of age. It’s not funny, I know.

“After my mistake with you, I needed to allow children to fight, or else there would be more timeline splits and problems caused from forcing them to be older. But, I wanted to give them a chance to be free. Fi was put asleep and all of her commands disabled, anyone could wield her if they were strong enough. It’s just that the Hero’s Spirit is drawn to her first.”

The sun was almost completely gone.

“I know it’s not worth much,” she admitted, “but I never wanted any of this to happen. I can offer something in return, to make up even a tiny amount of what you have given me.”

Time thought for a moment, “I want to be able to help future generations.”

“What?”

“You heard me,” he stepped forward, “out there is my descendant, as you well know, and I know that this cycle will never end. I want to be able to help him when his time comes, so no one has to learn by trial and error like I had.”

Hylia tilted her head, “I knew you would say that. Don’t worry, you will be able to help Twilight, and he in turn will help Wild. You will be able to leave anytime from this, if you wish, though.”

He nodded, “one more thing, do I ever find her?”

She looked shocked at the question, “Time... Navi, she doesn’t want to be found.”

“Why?” He opened his blind eye in anger, the blankness staring at the goddess.

“It would hurt you even more if you knew,” she begged him not to push.

“Tell me!”

“It’s because you’re not a Kokiri!” Hylia vanished when the moon started to rise in a blast of light, leaving a very tired, lonely Time.

Chapter Text

Legend and Time were both in a sour mood after the encounter with Hylia. Legend swore randomly and hit every tree they came across while Time was even more silent than usual. They all understood what Malon meant by that silence.

The others were still processing the fact that Hylia was Legend’s mom. Wouldn’t that make Sky, who in the future, or the past, marries a reincarnation of Hylia, Legend’s step father? Sky was feeling weird just thinking about it.

Currently, they were trudging through a forest in Legend’s world. After two days he returned from Lorule and Hylia never transported them back to where they were, so they were wondering around.

“Do you have any idea where we’re going?” Wild teased, “I thought you liked being on a path.”

“I thought you liked being alive!” Legend snapped, “I know where I’m going. We’re heading to Holodrum.”

“Why?” Wind asked.

“We need to talk to the Oracle of Ages, who lives in Labrynna, and the only way to there is through Holodrum or on a boat. I am never stepping foot on another boat as long as I live, so we are walking.”

“Walking across two countries?” Sky moaned, “seriously?”

“Why don’t you use your god powers,” Warriors matched Wild’s energy of annoyance, “you have those, don’t you? As Hylia’s child?”

“You know what?” He growled, “I do!“

The others backed away as Legend’s hands glowed and he vanished right before their eyes. He had never shown this ability before, probably because of its divine origins, so it shocked everyone. Twilight glared at Legend.

“Really, Warriors?” He chastised and looked at Wild, “you, too! We’ve lost our only guide for this world.”

“Where’d he go?” Hyrule wondered in amazing, he was always a sucker for good magic.

“Probably back to whine about his mommy,” Warriors ignored Twilight’s complaints, “ow!”

Legend materialized over Warriors head and fell down on him. Hard. If Warriors didn’t have such a think skull, in Legend’s opinion, he would’ve been dead.

“Stop bringing up my mother,” he stood up and continued walking, like nothing happened, “or you will regret it.”

They walked, all the while giving each other glances. All of them took note of the light that was still shining through Legend’s hands. Wild, Wind, and Time recognized it as the same power that Zelda wielded, so they knew how dangerous it could be.

Their path was blocked after a couple days travel. The woods created a solid block of trees that were 100 feet tall and were impenetrable. Wild brought out some flame arrows before this were confiscated by Twilight.

“What now?” Four looked for an entrance, “it’d take forever to get up there.”

Legend smirked, “for you, maybe, short stack. This is the border to Holodrum, also the reason why our two countries never communicated much before I went there.”

Without further explanation, Legend raised his had and waved it around. Magic poured out and the trees in front of them shrunk back into saplings. He payed no mind at everyone’s faces at the sight. If he was to be honest, it was liberating to be able to use the full extent of his powers again. He grimaced at the thought of giving her the satisfaction of him using it, though.

It took another week to make it to where Legend said was their halfway point. Everyone groaned and complained, but he took nothing of it. Instead, he lead them to a band of performers in the middle of the town they were in. For the first time in a week, he smiled.

“Din!” He called out to a dancer dressed in all red.

“Din?” Sky choked. Before he would have ruled out her name as a coincidence, but now... he was going to die if that was one of the Golden Goddesses.

The dancer, Din, beamed at the sight of Legend and fire erupted around her. She waved goodbye to her troop and the people watching and backflipped over to them.

“Cousin!” She shouted and smacked him on the back, “what brings you here?”

He sighed, “I was on a mission, but someone derailed it. We’re heading for Labrynna.”

Din pursed her lips, getting the hidden meaning, “well, you’re in luck. My mom was here yesterday, so you don’t have to worry about running into her. Now, who are your friends?”

“I’m Wind!” Wind introduced and then asked bluntly, “are you another goddess?”

Din laughed and snorted when she saw Legend’s glare. She shook her head and explained.

“The name’s are confusing, yes,” she admitted, “but I’m not that Din. She’s... do they know about..?”

“Sadly,” Legend said, “dear old mother wanted to meet them in person.”

“An honor,” she replied sarcastically, “anyway, Din’s my mom. I’m like my cousin over here! Though, more proud of my heritage.”

“That’s so cool,” Wind shouted.

Din shrugged, “not much to it. By the way, Farore has been looking for you. Something about you stealing her book?”

“TIME TO GO!” He shouted suddenly and ran away with Din’s cackles following after him.

He didn’t actually leave, only running off to the edge of town. The group spent two days in town and Din was happy to show some of them her magic. She also took it in stride their connection and story.

“Must have been why mom wasn’t happy yesterday,” she nodded, “she never liked any of you. You all kept killing her champions.”

“Feelings mutual,” Warriors muttered, “except for Lana.”

After they rested and hit the road again, Legend kept looking over his shoulder. He mentioned something about secrets hiding in the trees. He was going crazy, Wild was sure of it, because he didn’t even have koroks in his time.

“So,” Hyrule rocked back and forth, “there are others like you?”

“What. Did I. Say?” He bit back before sighing, “all of the gods decided that they needed to have children to protect what was left of this failure of a country. Before I fixed everything, things were pretty bad.”

“And they’re all your cousins?”

He nodded, “they’re the only good part of this whole demigod nonsense. Except for Farore-“

“I heard that!” A high pitch voice wailed and dropped out of a tree that was along their path.

“I KNEW IT!” Legend screeched and tried to crawl away as a small child held onto to his leg, not letting him go.

“Give me my book!” The child yelled, “why are you so mean to me, Link?”

“Because you’re a menace,” he kicked at her with his freed foot, but wasn’t having any luck.

“Who’s this?” Twilight knelt down and helped Legend. He grabbed the child and held her up on his shoulder.

With a clear sight, the Links saw that the girl was about five years old and was very energetic. She had vivid green hair in twin buns and a sun dress decorated with flowers. She looked annoyed at being suddenly picked up.

“My name is Farore!” She proclaimed proudly, “I am the Oracle of Secrets! He has my book...”

She stuck her tongue out at Legend. Legend, being the more mature one, did the same in return.

“Why are you out here all alone?” Twilight asked.

Farore crossed her arms, “I live here. The trees watch out for me.”

“Her mother watches out for her by making her invisible, except to nice people,” Legend spoke, “don’t know why I can see her, but still. She’s a bit like your Kokiri, Time.”

Time remained stoic and didn’t respond. That didn’t bother Farore.

“I like him!” She declared, “he knows how to be quiet, unlike you!”

“Likewise, imp,” Legend rolled his eyes and dug through his bag, eventually bringing out a big, moss covered book, “here you go.”

“Yes!” Farore hopped off of Twilight’s shoulder and grabbed her treasure, “where are you going, Link?”

“Meeting Nayru,” he started to walk forward. At this point, it felt like the Links were just along for the ride, but who were they to argue with demigods.

“Nay!” She cheered, “tell her I said hi.”

“Nope!”

As they walked away, Hyrule commented, “she was nice.”

Another day of walking lead them to the border of Holodrum and Labrynna. This time, the border was marked with a flowing river. There used to be a bridge there, but it had long since been torn down.

Once again, Legend just waved his hand. A bubble surrounded the group and anything inside of it seemed to revert to a completely different era. The bridge rematerialized in all of its former glory and they safely passed.

“You’ve always been able to do this?” Hyrule said in awe, “this is incredible.”

Legend shrugged, “Zelda focused more on combat, whereas I focused on... timing abilities. I thought it would be more useful.”

“Then, what was that teleportation earlier?” Wild asked.

“Just teleportation, it’s the first magic I learned.”

Finally, after traveling for around a month in total, they made it to the center of Labrynna. They walked past the capital city and headed into what they were told was the Forest of Time. Once they crossed an invisible barrier, they started hearing singing and a harp.

“Nayru!” Legend greeted a woman in blue the same way he did Din.

“Link!” She stopped playing and looked up, “I’m sorry, but Ralph isn’t here. He’s visiting Queen-“

He interrupted her, “this is not about that. We need help getting back to the Era of the Hero of Time.”

“Why?” She stood up and looked at the others with a gasp, “are these who I think they are? Father will be so excited when I tell him they’re all here.”

“Your father’s here?!” Legend backed away in fear.

Nayru smiled, “he’s coming tomorrow.”

She looked to the Links and bowed, “my apologies for not introducing myself. My name is Nayru, I am the Oracle of Ages, and my father is Nayru.”

“Oh, okay,” Four waved, “hel- wait, what,”

“Did you say father?” Sky thought he misheard.

“Yes,” Nayru knitted her eyebrows together, “did you not know of my father? I thought that is why you would come to me.”

“They’re from a different time,” Legend waved off her question, “most of them only know Nayru as the *Goddess* of Wisdom.”

“Oh,” she understood, “then that was my fault. My father thinks it would be simple minded to not experience everything in existence, so he didn’t want to be regulated to one gender. He used to be female, but, in my life, he is male.”

Time nodded, he now knew where his Zelda must have gotten their tendencies. As Nayru’s champion, it made a little sense that they would both share similarities, like being genderfluid.

“Fair enough,” Wild agreed.

“Now,” Nayru continued on, “you need to make it to the Era of the Hero of Time? Why didn’t you just ask Hyl-“

“I don’t need her!” Legend growled, quickly putting on a polite smile, “plus, I just wanted to see my cousins again.”

Nayru didn’t believe him, “well, I’m sorry, but my powers are not as precise as Hylia’s. I can definitely get you to the Era of the Hero of the Four Swords, but that’s a couple hundred off of where you want to be.”

“I’d be fine with it,” Four raised his hand.

“We need to get back to Time’s Hyrule,” Legend shook his head, “that’s where our enemy is.”

“Then you’ll have to ask Hylia. The gods are allowed to help us if it’s quick.”

“I wanna die,” he slammed his head into his hands.

“Overdramatic as always, Link,” Nayru patted him on the head, “Ralph would be proud. I’ll tell him you visited.”

“Thanks,” he drawled, but he actually meant it. He hadn’t seen Ralph in a long time, a shame that he wasn’t there. Nayru bid them farewell.

He looked to the group, “do any of you have something connected to Hylia?”

Not surprisingly, both Wild and Sky held something connected to the goddess. Wild had a tiny statue of her and Sky proposed his sail cloth. Legend took the statue and place in on the ground. Begrudgingly, he started to pray.

“Dear mom,” he spat, “since you’re the reason we’re stuck here, could you *please* help us out? Or do I need to kneel down even lower?”

“There’s no reason to use that tone,” Hylia appeared before them and frowned, “I am happy to help.”

“Hi, Hylia!” Wind waved up at her, and she waved back.

“Great,” Legend rubbed his hands together, “send us back.”

She looked sad, “if you had continued on your training you could have been able to do this yourself.”

“Yeah,” he replied, “but then I would’ve had to listen to you.”

She forced a smile, “what if we used this as a learning opportunity. I can teach you and then you and your friends can travel to any time you see fit!”

“We’re good, thanks.”

“Legend-“

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” Legend roared. In a split second, he became furious and he snapped the statue in his hand in half, “THAT IS NOT MY NAME!”

Hylia looked taken aback, “I-I’m sorry.”

“My name is Link!” He shouted, “the name Legend is nothing but a reminder that I am worth nothing to you. Why do I matter when there are tons of other Links that you care more about.”

“I love you-“

“No!” Legend stomped his foot, “you need me. You loved the First Hero, the Hero of the Skies. You never loved me or else you wouldn’t have tossed me out!”

The group backed away in concern. Legend was riled up and he was starting to glow softly, his magic building up.

“At least the other gods care about their kids,” he continued, “Farore makes sure her daughter’s safe, Din made sure her’s was well off, Nayru engages with his’. You didn’t even talk to me until I was 18!”

“Leg- Link,” Hyrule called out to him, “calm down!”

“NO!” He blasted the ground with magic, the grass fossilizing beneath his feet, “you want to know why I stopping training? Because when Zelda learned, you praised her, when I learned you thought it was a requirement. I don’t need your power to do my job that you so generously gave me.”

“Link,” Hylia bent down, “I was always proud with your strides in magic. I just thought you were more into studying and traveling, so I wanted to encourage that. Your sister loved learning magic, on the other hand. I am so sorry-“

“Save it,” Legend silenced her, “and then you had the audacity to drag me her against my will, I was traveling, but you pulled me away from that!”

Suddenly, a flash of multi colored lightning shot across the sky. It was a mix of red, green, and blue and it caused dark clouds to roll in.

Legend huffed, “you have to go now? So sad. Send us back and never talk to me again. I’d rather be stuck in a time far away then see you for one more second, since this is all you can spare.”

“What can I do to fix this?” Hylia begged.

“Give me the triforce,” he replied with snark, “I don’t care.”

She stood up to her full height, “alright.”

“Wait, what?” Legend calmed down enough that his magic stopped swirling.

Hylia said nothing more as she closed her eyes. Everyone felt a power surge as the triforce materialized in the goddess’ hands. With a kind smile, she outstretched her hand and gesture for Legend to take the holy relic.

“Is that it?” Wild leaned forward to take a closer look, “is that allow?”

Twilight shushed him, “she’s the protector of the triforce, she can do whatever she wants with it.”

“Are you serious?” Legend looked at the familiar sight, “is this a joke?!”

Hylia shook her head, “after all the times placed your hand on the triforce, you never had the chance to wish for what you truly desired. Take it.”

With wide eyes, the demigod reached forward. The relic floated over to his control and he looked at it with the same fear and wonderment he did when he was just 12 years old.

“When I sent you to live with your uncle,” Hylia said, “I knew you wouldn’t want to be cramped up in a castle your whole life, so I thought you would have been happier in Hyrule.”

“I don’t know how Zelda did it,” he mumbled

“What do you wish for, Son.”

Legend closed his eyes, “I- I...”

He looked up at his mother and said in a soft voice, “I just wish we were a family.”

Her eyes watered with joy, “then it is done.”

The triforce floated high into the air and exploded into golden shards. Everyone was blinded and when they could see again, Hylia was before them, but different.

She no longer wore her white robes, but instead wore a brown commoner’s dress. Her hair was still gold, but it lost its shine. She shrunk down and now stood a couple inches taller than Legend. Her eyes was radiant, but not with power, with the love of her children.

“Hylia,” Sky stuttered, “are you?”

“I am mortal once again,” she took Legend’s hands, “I have none of my powers, you’re more god than me. Now, I can stay here for this life, not even the other gods can argue with the will of the triforce.”

“I don’t believe it,” Legend closed his eyes, “you wouldn’t, you have to protect the country-“

“You did a fine job of that already,” Hylia hugged her son, “I will stay here with you.”

“But,” he slowly hugged back, “I still have a mission, we have to leave.”

“Then I will be here when you come back,” she whispered, “*my* little Hero.”

They hugged for a little bit longer, but, when finished, Hylia taught her son how to travel through time. As she watched her son fade away, she saw Legend smile at her for the first time in years.

Hylia was truly blessed, and she started her long trek home with joy in her heart.

Chapter Text

“If everyone doesn’t shut up this instant,” Legend pulled at his hair, “I will kill all of you!”

A pleasant day for the Links, that was to be sure. Considering the fact that no one was talking, two of them were missing, and the rest were in varying states of panic and confusion, it would not be far fetched to say that they all collectively went insane.

“Legend!” Hyrule was freaking out, he needed to help his friend, “are you okay? What’s going on!”

A stream of curse words spewed out of Legend’s mouth and Hyrule started fidgeting at an alarming rate.

So, how did the Chosen Heroes of Hylia come to such a sorry state? Who knows, they were in Warrior’s time and the wizards there loved to mess with any passerby’s.

Regardless of why it was happening, it needed to be fixed. Every single member of the group magically collapsed and stood up with an ailment that was familiar to at least one of them.

“This is weird,” Wind stated as he wobbled around. Gone was the 13-year-old in pajamas and in his place was a 20-year-old pirate, complete with a whispy beard and him being over a foot taller.

“You’re telling me,” Four was leaning against a tree for support and was breathing heavily.

“What is this?” Twilight couldn’t move, every slightest movement he did caused the air around him to stir. When he first stood up, he was launched fifteen feet in the air, and, when he took one step, he had his feet swept up from under him. “What magic is this, Warriors? Uh, Warriors?”

He slowly moved his head around, careful not to blow hair in his face, and saw that Warriors was one of the missing two. Wild was the other one.

Twilight sighed, “great!”

Even more great was the fact that his sigh caused a miniature tornado to blow out of his mouth. It kicked up some pollen in the air and he almost sneezed, but he dared not think of what that would cause.

Sky noticed Four’s heavy breathing and wanted to help, so he walked over there.

“Breathe,” Sky suggested calmly, “slowing...in...and out...”

“I’m trying!” Four snapped and then started to cough, “I-I can’t, I can’t hear-“

“You need to stop talking,” Sky reassured, “it’ll only hurt-“

“I AM FINE!” Another coughing fit.

Sky huffed at the sudden outburst and stomped his feet. There was a popping noise and he looked down to see that his kick caused a crack in the rock they stood on.

“Be quiet!” Legend hissed and Hyrule was holding his hands to stop him from pulling out his hair.

Twilight looked to the only sane person he’d talked to in the last year: Time. Too bad today wasn’t a normal day, he cursed.

Time was sitting on a rock, staring blankly into the distance. Twilight slowly waved his hand in front of his face and he got no response, not even when the wind pushed his hair back. It was like he wasn’t even there.

“Time?” He asked, “are you okay?”

He finally got a reaction as his mentor looked up at him with innocence in his eyes, “who’s Time?”

Twilight felt himself deflate, “oh, goddesses, not again!”

“Where am I?” Time asked, looking around, “who are you?”

“I’m Twilight,” he should not have had to deal with this situation three different times in his life, “I’m a friend, and so are all of these people. You’re safe.”

“Are you going to protect me?”

His voice was so fragile, it made Twilight hurt. Unaware of the situation at hand and willing to blindly follow anyone as long as they were there for him. It was like how he remembered Wild when he first woke- wait a minute!

He smiled softly, “I’ll do my best. Wind?”

The newly turned adult tripped on his foot and slammed into the ground. He sat up slightly and looked over at him.

“Yeah?”

“I can’t exactly move without causing a hurricane,” Twilight explained, “and you’re the only one left standing, so you need to find Warriors and Wild.”

“Alright!” And Wind clumsily ran through the trees.

“You have a theory?” Four asked, hand on his chest.

Twilight nodded, “considering that I control wind, Time has amnesia, and you have asthma, I think it’s a high chance that we all switched powers.”

“Then what the f*ck is going on with me?!” Legend growled, “this is more like a curse than a power with whatever this nonsense is.”

“I don’t know,” Twilight responded, “it’s just a theo-“

His voice stopped as Wind came running back.

“I found them!” He cheered, “at least, I think I did.”

Following close behind him was a tiny blue fairy and a great silver wolf.

Twilight stared at the wolf and thought, “there’s goes my secret.”

“Puppy!” Time shouted and rushed to the wolf. The wolf looked apprehensive, but tensely let him pet his long tail.

“So, uh,” the fairy flittered over to Twilight, “this is not the strangest thing to happen to me.”

As the fairy approached, Twilight could see the outline of a person in the middle of the glowing light. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the fairy was a nonchalant Wild.

“Wild?” He gasped and immediately regretted it as wind pushed the fairy back a little.

“Warriors says this might be the work of Cia,” he flew back to him, “something about incapacitating us.”

The wolf, Warriors, barked harshly, though he did try not to scare Time.

“Fine,” Wild groaned, “Warriors says that Cia might’ve been trying to switch our bodies, but only switched a part of our- what? Character traits? What are we, static characters in a bad novel?”

Warriors nodded.

“Weird lady,” he responded.

Twilight had to agree, “I have seemed to have gotten Wind’s powers.”

He waved his hand to demonstrate.

“I, uh, I have,” Four walked over, “I have Sky’s asthma.”

“Time has your amnesia,” Twilight added.

“My most rememberable thing is that I forget?” Wild was insulted, “then who here caused me to be a fairy? Wait, did you say Ti-“

“N-navi,” Time stopped petting Warriors and locked eyes with the fairy. He got the blank look that Wild would get whenever he would remember something.

“Navi?” Wild looked at himself, “no, I’m Wild.”

“Navi,” he repeated, clearly not understanding. He slowly reached out to him, trying to reach him. The pain on his face was so sad that Wild went along with it. Of what little Hyrule told them all, Time used to be very close to a guardian fairy.

Warriors barked again once Wild was settled on Time’s head, who seemed content. Wild looked at him and translated.

“Warriors says we need to figure out what is wrong with everybody, and then maybe we could fix it.”

He smiled mischievously, “he would also like to know where Wolfie is and if he swapped powers if he was now a wolf.”

“Cub, I could break you,” Twilight glared, “kidding!”

He addressed the last bit to Time, as he protectively grabbed Wild in his hands and held him close to his chest.

“Alright,” he looked to everyone, “gather round! Sound off with your ailments.”

Wind started, “I’m an adult? That’s not really special, considering half of you are adults. It’s cool to me, though! I have a beard!”

“Barely,” Legend smirked.

“I’m super strong?” Sky offered.

“I have urges and impulses to do a million things,” Hyrule kept glancing at Wild, “I can’t sit still.”

“And I have multiple voices in my head!” Legend complained, “I pity whichever one of you lives like this.”

A bark.

Wild translated, “Warriors says that the strength is most likely from him.”

“That proud of his muscles, ey?” Legend, though in pain, clearly couldn’t keep himself from getting a few jabs in, “I thought Twilight was the strong one?”

A growl.

“Something about how he was blessed with extreme strength, but he learned to channel it through weapons,” Wild rolled his eyes, “I still highly doubt you killed over 500 monsters at once.”

“What about me?” Hyrule fidgeted, “I’ve never seen any of you act like this, maybe Wild, but not to this extent.”

“Hey!” Wild protested and moved to sit back on Time’s head.

“It’s me,” Legend admitted, “I have ADHD and my dumb curse is that I want to help everyone. Even though people are terrible.”

“Seriously?” Hyrule didn’t believe it, “but you’re so collected!”

“Years of acting,” Legend grimaced, “what? You think I’d travel to multiple countries on a whim because I wanted to see the world? No! I’m impatient and hear one cry for help and I have to go.”

“Oh,” Hyrule hugged him, “you’re a good person, then, if that’s your curse.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he pushed Hyrule off of him and rubbed his forehead again, “now who’s voices are these and who is a fairy?! And where’s Wolfie?”

“Wait a minute,” Four started slowly, “these abilities were kept a secret for a reason, so should we really reveal them?”

“Yes!” Legend stated bluntly, “I am in literal pain right now as four voices that sound like me fill my head! So, who. Is. This!?”

“I can go first!” Hyrule sensed the tension in the group and came to the rescue. Curse Legend’s selflessness! “I’m half fairy and can turn into one.”

“Really?” Wild snorted, “that’s sick! But how does that work?”

Hyrule shook his head, “don’t ask me.”

“You’re part fairy,” Time asked, mesmerized, “does that mean you can do magic?”

Hyrule smiled at him, “not right now, but usually I can.”

“That’s really cool, Mister.”

Four sighed, “the voices are from me.”

Legend raised an eyebrow, “you live with voices in your head constantly.”

“Yes.”

“How are you not insane?”

He shrugged, “you get used to it, right now it’s a little painful without everyone being in here with me.”

“Oh, gods,” Legend moaned, “please don’t tell me these voices are separate people!”

Four coughed again nervously, “on my adventure, I had the ability to split myself into four parts with my sword, those parts were different parts of my personality and they were called Green, Red, Blue, and Vio. Don’t judge the names, we were eight.”

“Do you have the sword on you now?”

Four gripped his sword’s hilt, “always.”

“Give it!”

“What? No.”

Legend stood up, “I won’t break the thing, you can have it back after this mess is sorted out. I can barely think straight right now, so just give me the sword!”

Twilight looked at Four, “give him the sword, please.”

He sighed, “fine! I can’t even fight with Sky’s asthma and dizziness.”

“Thank you,” Legend took the sword by the handle, “how does this work?”

There was no explanation needed, as Legend was engulfed in a burst of shadows. When the darkness subsided, four different colored duplicates of the Hero of Legend stood in front of everybody.

“Finally!” The green one cheered, “my headache is gone!”

“If I had to spend one more second in that idiot’s mind, I was going to explode,” the blue one crossed his arms angrily.

“I... I don’t like this,” the red one backed away from everyone, “they’re all staring at me.”

“This is...odd,” the purple one noted.

Each one looked like Legend, except for a key few differences. Each one’s different colored hair streak coordinated to their color instead of being pink. The purple one’s hair was completely hidden by his hat and the blue one’s belt was too loose and everything was falling out of it. The red one couldn’t look anyone in the eye as he hid in his oversized over-tunic. The green one seemed the most put together and actually wore pants.

“Legend?” Wild asked the four.

It was a bit creepy how they all looked at him at once. He tried not to back down as they inspected each other and everyone.

“I still stand by what we said,” the blue one spoke, “this is an absolute nightmare and, Four, you live a horrible life.”

“Gee, thanks. You know, I actually like my brothers.”

“We never said that,” the purple argued, “and it was only you who was thinking it.”

“Can’t say I’m fond of this, though,” the green one looked at his hands, “it reminds me of Hytopia a bit.”

They all shivered at once, except for the red one.

“I...I liked that place...everyone was nice...”

“Of course you would!”

“So,” Four could recognize infighting and stopped it before it began, “while you four are here, what do you want to be called, because, believe me, calling you all Legend does not work.”

“If you name us after colors,” the blue one raised a finger, “I will never let you forget how uncreative you are.”

“Says the person who named his pet rabbit Bunny,” the green one grumbled, “this is just temporary, so we can deal.”

Four nodded, “it’s best to keep this simple, it has nothing to do with creativity. So...”

“Olive!” Time suggested, beaming, “you’re shirt is olive.”

Olive sighed, “I did say I’d take anything. Just, please, don’t call me Oli.”

“What else should they be called,” Wild floated in front of Time and encouraged him, “name the grumpy one.”

“We are nothing but grumpy and you all know it!” The blue one protested, “you don’t have to single me out.”

“I didn’t say the whiny baby in blue, now did I?” Wild stuck out his tongue, “you made that assumption all on your own. Now, Time?”

He thought hard, “Cobalt! That’s a rock, right? He’s rough like a rock!”

“Perfect,” Wild barred his tiny fangs at Cobalt, “now, the purple one.”

“I’m good,” the purple one tried to shut them down, but Time had nothing of it.

“Mauve?” He thought, but immediately scrunched up his face, “Indigo? I know, Lavender! Those are really pretty flowers.”

Lavender shrugged.

“And now the red one!”

At the mention of his color, the red one backed farther away. He pulled his hat, which was now more of a hood, over his face.

“Please...stop looking at me...”

“Berry!” Time decided. Berry seemed to like the name a little bit, as he smiled beneath his hood.

Four took a breath of relief, he was finally getting breathing down again, “good. Now that that’s settled, I think we have been forgetting someone.”

He looked at Warriors, who had been sitting on the ground bored for the past ten minutes. He sat up once he realized the conversation was about him.

“So,” Cobalt looked at the silver wolf, “is this a swap with Wolfie, or is this a Hyrule situation?”

Twilight swallowed harshly. The jig was up, he could only delay the inventible for so long.

He raised his hand, “the wolf is from me. I was Wolfie.”

Silence.

“I f*cking new it,” Wind did not whisper subtlety at all. He didn’t even look ashamed when they stared at him. “What, I’m an adult, I can curse! Also, we still haven’t figured out where this came from.”

“One thing at a time,” Sky’s eyes were wide, “you were Wolfie this whole time? Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Hyrule didn’t tell us he was half fairy,” Twilight pointed out.

“I didn’t hang around us as a fairy and pretended to not be me,” Hyrule waved his hands, “but I did kind of not want you guys to know.”

“It doesn’t matter right now,” Twilight rubbed his eyes.

“Who else knew?” Olive asked.

“Four, Wild, and Time,” he answered, “I use Twili magic to transform and I have better hearing and sight while as a wolf. Happy?”

There were some mumbles that let him know they were not going to let this go for a while. At least they weren’t starting a witch hunt.

“Great!” Wind stood up, “now, again, why am I an adult?”

Twilight hesitated, “the only swap left unaccountable is Time.”

“Me?” Time asked, “Navi, are they talk about me?”

“Yes,” Wild nodded, “do you remember anything about being an adult? Or a kid who turned into an adult? It’s alright if you don’t.”

Time shook his head, “no, I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.”

“In my time,” Wind thought out loud, “the Hero of Time was a child.”

“He was an adult in our time,” Lavender supplied.

“And not much is known about him in mine,” Twilight said solemnly, “this must be something only Malon knows about.”

“So,” Wild looked at everyone, “now what? I am personally okay with being a fairy forever, but Warriors did say that all of this was a distraction.”

Warriors barked in agreement.

“Cia just needs to track down our location and then she’ll attack,” Wild translated.

“Then we need to be gone by the time she gets here,” Sky spoke, “only some of us can’t even fight, so it’s wouldn’t be safe.”

“Maybe we can use this power swap to our advantage,” Hyrule started to pace, “some of this made us weaker, but it has also made some of us stronger.”

Another bark.

Wild sighed, he was starting to hate his new job, “Cia’s magic is most likely just covering the forest, so, if we made it out, we would all revert to normal.”

“I’m hearing run like hell,” Cobalt grinned.

“I’m not fast...” Berry whimpered, “...I’ll get caught...or left behind...or one of you will die because...because I couldn’t save you...”

“Berry,” Twilight assured him, “you can ride on Warriors, a magical wolf can carry a lot of weight.”

He choose to ignore Warriors’ growls. He had to suck it up, like how he let Four ride with him sometimes.

“Four,” Twilight gestured to the wolf’s back, “you, too. We can’t let you die because of asthma.”

“I feel like that’s an insult for my own abilities,” Sky frowned.

“It’s not,” Four assured him, “I’m just not used to this. Sorry, Warriors.”

The plan that followed was quick and rushed. The three other Legends were to run alongside Warriors and catch anybody if they fell off him. Wild would guide Time, who wore his bunny hood that Wild found in his bag (which would have been hilarious in any other situation). Wind and Twilight ran with the wind as a propeller so they were practically flying. Sky’s new abilities didn’t help him much, but he at least didn’t have asthma slowing him down. Hyrule used his newfound anxiety and was the fastest one out of all of them and he just ran.

And with that they were off.

Warriors tried not to shiver as he felt Cia’s magic wash over them as they just barely missed her portal full of monsters. After nonstop running for four minutes, they made it passed the barrier of the forest.

Once they exited, Warriors immediately changed back and was crushed under the weight of two people. Wind shrunk back into a kid and Twilight could finally sigh heavily. Time blinked as he recalled everything and the now human Wild smiled at him awkwardly. Four felt solace in his mind as his brothers returned and Sky felt unease set over him, but he was used to it. Hyrule felt his powers return to him and Legend could no longer stand still.

Everything was back to normal...

Except for one thing.

“Uh, guys,” Olive looked at everyone who were now complete, “why aren’t we back together?”

The four Legends stared at each other, unsure of what to do next.

Chapter Text

“Let’s split up,” Four said to no one but himself. He did just that and he used his hidden power to split himself into his four counterparts: Green, Red, Blue, and Vio.

“Took him long enough to let us out,” Blue stretched for the first time in months.

“Did you seriously want to explain us and meet eight new people all at once?” Vio asked.

“Time knew!” Red bounced, “and he loved us!”

Green shook his head, “only because he knew the story of the Four Sword from coming right after us. Just be grateful that we can split right now.”

“What’s the plan,” Blue nodded.

Wild had caught sight of Dark Link in the corner of his eye multiple times over the past few days. Everyone had thought he had gone crazy, that is until Legend saw it too. They now knew Dark Link was watching them and they needed to find him.

They all split away, though they were supposed to be in groups of two or three. Stupid, Warriors, always overconfident and running off. So, Four decided eights hands were better than two.

“Since we are already alone,” Green thought, “I don’t see why we can’t just spread out in opposite directions. Just shout when you find Dark Link.”

“We could be lured into a trap,” Vio pointed out, “that’s why Time wanted us in groups.”

“Too late now!” Blue barked, “we can protect ourself anyways. It’s not like the others have a mental link to each other, we are probably better separated than staying a pack.”

“For right now at least,” Red agreed.

“Fine,” Vio sighed.

Green pointed towards some trees, “I’ll take North.”

“South!” Blue claimed.

“East,” Red chirped.

Vio started walking, “that leaves me with West. See you in a bit.”

There were a chorus of goodbyes as each Link forged through their path. They had the unfortunate luck of being in the woods at night and during a fog, but they needed to find their enemy.

Vio stayed alert, glancing at everything, but he never lowered his guard or got scared. Red was probably scared, Vio thought with a sad smile, it would be just like him.

Then, slowly, a noise was coming closer to him. It started quiet and spread out, but it became frantic and louder as time went on. It sounded like a person was coughing. A person who was very injured.

He was hesitant to call out, thinking it might be an ally, but he wasn’t sure. It was getting darker, so there wouldn’t be a way soon for him to see who it was. Unless he had the lantern this time...

His emotions got the better of him, not even thinking about how we would explain himself if it was a Link.

“Link?” He asked.

“H-half,” the cougher finally made it to where Vio could make him out, “you’re h-half r-right.”

His eyes widened, “Shadow?”

Shadow smirked, “the one and only. H-hey, Vi...”

Bam! He fell to the ground and didn’t move again. Vio ran over and assessed the situation, it would be time to question why Shadow was there later.

Shadow’s injuries were extensive. He had burns all over his limbs and legs and a cut on his neck. He had a broken arm, which probably explained why his sword and shield were missing. The worst injury was the stab wound in his stomach that was currently bleeding out.

“Shadow?” Vio propped him up on his leg and tried his best to stop the bleeding with his hat, “what happened?”

His friend slowly opened his eyes and again and Shadow smiled. The idiot, Vio thought. But he was his idiot.

“W-would you believe it if I said I pulled a Vio?” He laughed and then winced.

“That’s not funny,” Vio frowned. He still hated the fact that he had to double cross Shadow.

“It is a little bit,” Shadow continued, “I worked for Dark Link, but not b-because of what you think. He offered me a position in ruling the world. I said yes, I’m not an idiot.”

“You megalomaniac,” Vio groaned.

“You love me,” he winked, “anyway, I was always going to betray him. I meant what I said back then, and I still keep my side of the promise.”

“Promise?”

Shadow weakly grabbed Vio’s hand, “I ain’t ruling the world without you.”

Vio huffed, “for a guy who claims to be evil, you have a strange knack for sweet sentiments. All the while using improper language.”

He chuckled and coughed again, “y-yeah. Call Vaati, cause I’m a fraud!”

“You dork,” Vio snorted, “what happened then?”

“I enacted my plan a couple days ago,” Shadow explained, a pained look in his eye, “this is why I needed you, I suck at plans. I was easily s-stopped and Dark Link put me in a prison that always had l-light pouring in. He gave me the stab wound as a present and then said he was going to kill y’all now as extra punishment. The other injuries are f-from when I escaped to find you.”

“Who’s he killing?” Vio panicked, “is he going for Four or any of the others?”

“H-he,” Shadow whispered, “he wants to kill you, Vio, so that Four is forever lost, and you would hurt me the most. The others are collateral.”

“I have to tell the others!” Vio stood up and moved Shadow to lean against a tree, “will you be alright here?”

He shook his head and attempted to stand up. He bit the inside of his mouth and Vio tried to get him to stay still.

“I came here,” he grabbed Vio’s shoulder, “to save you. I am not leaving your side!”

“You can’t move or fight like this,” Vio argued, “you need to stay here.”

Shadow coughed, “if I stay, I d-definitely won’t be here by the time you come back. I’ll either die from my injuries or Dark Link will find me.”

“You can’t come with me,” Vio started to think of solutions to the problem, “if Dark Link is looking for me, you’d be an easy target.”

“S-so,” Shadow moved away from the tree and now only had Vio for support, “stay with me! Better yet, leave with me. You can help me heal and you won’t be killed.”

“What? Shadow, I can’t! My brothers are out the-“

“Your b-brothers have done fine without you,” he cried, “and they will be fine now. Please, come with me. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’ll be fine,” Vio assured him, “there must be some way we can hide you. Can you go into my shadow again?”

He shook his head, “my powers are the weakest they’ve ever been, and I don’t have darkness resupplying them. There’s no other way.”

The fog was creeping in and the sky was getting darker. Vio looked around in confusion while Shadow looked terrified.

“He’s here!” He spat out, “we need to go. Now!”

He started to hobble away, looking back to outstretch his hand to Vio. Vio started to reach forward. He badly wanted it to be like the old days of him and Shadow causing mischief, but he had grown up since then. He couldn’t go and play anymore.

Vio sighed, “I’m sorry, Shadow. But my answer is no.”

His expression flickered to something he couldn’t quite read, “oh?”

“I can’t run from my problems,” he stood his ground, “and I will not abandon my brothers again.”

“T-then,” Shadow walked to him and hugged him fiercely, “y-you’ve killed me, Vio.”

Vio hugged back, feeling his eyes watered, “I know.”

“Good.”

And he felt a pain in his back.

“Vio?” Shadow asked, worried at the sound of his sharp gasp, “are you alright?”

“S-shadow?” his visioned blurred. What was he hit with? How did he miss an attack?

He collapsed on the ground and Shadow followed after him. He tried to feel his back and felt a hole growing in the center of his lower back. He felt no weapon, though. Shadow sat up painfully.

“S-something,” Vio stuttered, “Dark Link, he, he g-got me.”

“Oh, no,” he saw the blood pouring out, “this is bad. He must be getting stronger to attack from a distance!”

“A bullet, maybe?” Vio suggested, “magic, most likely.”

“Stop using that brain of yours for a moment,” Shadow complained, “we’re both going to bleed out!”

“I c-can,” he tried to reach for his sword, which fell a little ways away from him, “I can summon my brothers.”

Shadow’s eyes widened, “since when? They couldn’t even tell that Green was alive that one time we tricked him.”

“That was before we had enough force,” Vio reached his sword, “got it!”

He sent out a distress signal to the others. His brothers would be there in a couple minutes. Until then, they needed to survive.

“Why didn’t you go with me!” Shadow whined, “you would have been fine.”

“We still will be,” Vio hoped, “you haven’t met the others, but we have some great healers.”

“And what happens when they see me?” He shouted, “they’ll try to kill me, because all they’ll see is *Dark Link*, a monster!”

“You’re not a monster.”

“Then they’ll see an echo, a copy, a shadow!” He listed off, “and assume I’m bad. That’s what Heroes do, right? Kill anything that looks evil without asking questions.”

Vio frowned, “they’ll listen to me.”

“No, the won’t,” Shadow pointed out, “you aren’t exactly yourself right now, so who’s to say they don’t think you’re also a copy?”

“How did you know we didn’t tell the others about the powers of the Four Sword,” he narrowed his eyes.

Shadow grinned, “because I know you. You would rather hoard all the secrets in the world then share them with a few people.”

He leaned back and sighed, “you’re right. We didn’t tell them, we all thought it’d be best not to. If someone got here before my brothers, then...”

“We’re as good as dead,” Shadow agreed, “look, I have a last resort. It’s something that Dark Link would never expect us to do.”

He pulled out of his pocket a sphere the size of his hand: the moon pearl. It would allow them to travel to the Dark World safely.

“How would this help?” Vio asked, “wouldn’t Dark Link be able to find us quickly?”

Shadow shook his head, “no, he wouldn’t think we would do something as stupid as go there. But I would be so much more powerful there and could possibly heal. I didn’t use it at first because I was scared you would reject the idea, but now that we have no choice...”

“We can come back at any time?” he ran through all the positive and negatives in his head, “you’ll heal?”

“Yes! Please, Vio, I can’t survive must longer.”

Vio nodded slowly. With success in his eyes, Shadow lifted the moon pearl up to the heavens and waited for the clouds to move away. Then, something clicked in Vio’s mind.

“Shadow,” he hated to ask, “what happened to your cough?”

“What?” Shadow laughed before his face fell, “oh, it must be the adrenaline. Or whatever those drugs you said your brain had when you were hurt.”

“How did you get back?” He pushed, “we saw you die.”

Shadow frowned, “the light damaged me, but it didn’t fully kill me, I had to wait to be resurrected one again by Dark Link.”

“Where’s your sword?”

He froze, “it, uh, didn’t come back with me. What are you getting at?”

“Why don’t you look like us anymore?” Vio gestured to his clothes, “you look the same since last time, and you always reflected what we wore. Where’s your tunic like ours?”

“I’ll answer these questions later!” Shadow stood up and punched the moon pearl into the sky, “c’mon, moon.”

Vio glared up and saw an expression he never saw on Shadow before. While Shadow always had a bit of humor and smiled or smirked through life, he was now glaring at the sky. His lips were snarled and his eyes glinted with malice.

“You’re not Shadow,” he realized in a sad voice.

“Vio,” ‘Shadow’ didn’t look down, “stop being an idiot. Of course it’s me.”

“Then stop!” Vio commanded, “we are not going to the Dark World.”

“It’s too late,” the moon finally made its way through the clouds.

Think! Vio screamed at himself, he had to stop him. What hurt beings made of dark magic? Light, but he didn’t have any light magic with him and he definitely couldn’t wield a sword like this. What was the closest thing to light? Fire!

Vio swore as he searched quickly through his things. If Blue had it he was going to kill him in the afterlife.

He silently cheered when he found the item he was looking for: a lantern. He lit it and gestured it towards ‘Shadow’.

“Ahh!” He hissed and dropped the moon pearl, which rolled away into the dirt. “Vio, you, you idiot!”

He scurried away from the light like it was a plague. He clutched his hands to his face in pain and his form seemed to shimmer.

“Who are you!?” Vio demanded to know.

‘Shadow’ chuckled darkly, slowly lowering his hands, revealing that his face was melting like wax. Half of his face was the Shadow that Vio knew, the other was an exact replica of want Vio looked like now.

“Who’d ya think?” Dark Link grinned ferally.

Vio tried to limp away on one hand, keeping the flames in front of him. Dark Link’s disguise melted completely away to reveal his true form, one that more echoed Four than Vio.

“Stay back!” He shouted, “where’s Shadow?”

Dark Link rolled his eyes, “I thought you were the smart one. Your shadow is right behind you, and that’s where it’s going to stay. But if you really wanted to know, then the last time you saw him was really the last.”

Vio tried to show no emotion, he knew that was the case when it happened. Why did it still hurt?

His enemy walked in circles, muttering to himself, “you couldn’t take the bait! All you had to do was say ‘oh, Shadow, I love you so much! Sweep me away in your arms!’ But, no!”

Vio winced at his injury, which worsened when Dark Link glared at him.

“I had this whole plan,” he mourned, “I was going to double cross myself, before double crossing you. I thought it’d be nice for you to know how it feels.”

“Why?” Vio questioned, “if this wasn’t to punish Shadow, why are you targeting me?”

He shrugged, “easy target? Plus, I was bored and I figure I could have a lot of fun with you, the only Link to show compassion to his reflection. If there is one thing that Heroes hate the most, I learned, it’s themselves.”

“You flatter yourself if you think you’re anything like us,” Vio growled.

Dark Link froze, “you’re right. I am nothing but an evil, pitiful creation made by Demise! It’s not my fault that I have no free will of my own, I have to do what I am ordered.”

He sighed, “it’s a painful existence being me...”

He looked to Vio was a sad expression, but Vio wasn’t buying it.

“Great acting,” he drawled, “almost better than Blue’s. Cut the nonsense, you’re a sadist who enjoys your work.”

Dark Link’s face returned to baring his fangs, “guilty as charged! Sad for you, though, I would’ve let you live longer if you played along. But, I guess it’s time to say goodbye!”

He started to march forward, no longer caring about the fire in Vio’s hand. It hurt him, sure, but he couldn’t pass off an opportunity like this.

“GREEN!” Vio shouted at the top of his lungs, “BLUE, RED! ANYBODY!”

Dark Link kicked his arm, forcing him to drop the lantern. The fire was snuff out when it hit the ground and they were submerged in darkness. The only thing that gave Vio sight were the piercing red eyes of Dark Link and the soft glow that came from his sword.

“That won’t work, little Hero,” he booped Vio on the nose, “your brothers won’t be able to find you while I’m still here.”

“Little,” Vio snarled, “we’re the same height and I’m pretty sure I’m older than you.”

“But so much weaker,” he flicked his nose this time.

“Then do your worst. Can’t be any more torture than your one man show.”

“Hmm,” Dark Link hummed and he balanced on his toes, “I will gladly kill you, I was just thinking about something. I did mean it when I said you were the *one* Link to show kindness to his shadow. I’m curious as to why.”

“I backstabbed Shadow,” he stated bluntly, “I wouldn’t call that kindness.”

“In the end, you did, but I’m curious about the beginning, where you willingly joined him.”

“What are you getting at?”

“Why don’t you join me?” Dark Link tilted his head, “you’re smart, so you know what happens if you say no. Just think of me like your Shadow! The only difference is I won’t fail in my conquest.”

“You’re just Shadow on a budget,” Vio insulted, “I thought you answered to Demise?”

“I do,” he waved his hands in a sarcastic manner, “or do I? I could have been lying about everything I’ve said so far, you don’t know. I only tell my plans to my allies.”

“Really?” He didn’t believe him, “was that a lie?”

Dark Link smiled, “catching on!”

“My answer, once again, is no,” he spat at his enemy’s face. Dark Link wiped the spit off and stood up, angry. “I will not betray my brothers again.”

“Better loyal and dead than smart and alive, huh?” Dark Link summoned a weapon that mirrored the Four Sword.

“Better brave and kind than a coward and evil,” Vio closed his eyes, waiting for the end.

-

“Vio!” Red called, “where are you?!”

“No sight of him here!” Blue called back.

Green was panicking, “we never should have split. Why can’t we sense him?”

They had felt Vio’s distress call five minutes ago and they were still looking for him. They headed West until they walked out of the forest and they walked East until they came back to their starting point. It’s like they somehow skipped over a whole part of the woods.

“What if he’s in trouble?” Red whimpered.

No one answered him.

They continued searching for five more minutes when all of their hairs stood up. A chill washed over them at once and they couldn’t move. It felt like something inside them shattered.

“Vio,” Green knew.

Red bursted into tears and Blue tried to comfort him. Green refused to give up. That feeling could mean anything, not just that he...that he...

“Look!” He snapped himself out of it and pointed to the West. The fog that covered it was lifting and a purple light was shining through the trees. “Let’s go!”

Pulling themselves together, the trio ran into the trees that they couldn’t before. The made it to an area that clearly had a struggle, but nothing and no one was there. That is except for...

“Vio’s sword,” Red kneeled down and picked it up, “and our lantern.”

Suddenly, dark ink started flowing out of the ground and solidifying on the tip of the sword. Red dropped it in fear and backed away. They watched the ink built up and revealed a copy of themselves: Dark Link. He was smirking, holding up the Four Sword with dark magic on the hilt like it was a victory prize or a spoil of war.

“You have no right to touch that!” Blue wanted to rush forward.

“Why not?” Dark Link looked at the blade with interest, “I am also a Link, and it seems you are missing your fourth member.”

“YOU BASTARD!” Blue had to be held back by Red and Green. All of this was highly amusing to Dark Link.

“What did you do to Vio?” Green narrowed his eyes.

“I did nothing,” he lied, “your brother ran out, betrayed you once again. Deep down he was a coward, and he knew it too, so he made a smart decision. He should be in a time far away right now.”

“Has anyone told you that you’re a bad actor?” Red asked. He asked it like a five year old would’ve, not realizing that it was rude.

Dark Link glared, “all the time.”

Green nodded, “you lie worse than I did when I was actually four.”

“Fine,” he relented, “but I didn’t completely lie, Vio did betray you. He right here.”

He pointed his chest. He could tell that they weren’t getting what he was spelling out. He huffed.

“Don’t you think it’s odd that I could hold this sacred blade?” He hinted. When they still didn’t get it, he groaned. “Let me show you.”

The left half of him melted off completely, revealing that he had something under his darkness. It was Vio! He has his eyes closed and his face showed no expression, but it was him. His clothes were torn up and he had blood stains all over him. Dark Link solidified again, with an evil grin.

“Vio!” The three cried.

“Yes,” Dark Link nodded, “you’re brother was kind enough to give me his body. I offered him either death or helping me, and you can see what he choose.”

“He choose death, then,” Green argued, “and we will save him!”

“If you can, that is,” he readied his sword, “your brother’s fatally wounded, and my darkness is the only thing keeping him alive. Attacking me would just harm him.”

“Red,” Green commanded, “use the lantern, we know they are weak to it. Blue, find anything else that Vio might’ve dropped that could help us. I’ll fight Dark Link.”

Blue looked like he wanted to argue, but decided against it. He nodded and him and Red got to work.

“We fought like this before,” Dark Link mused, “haven’t we? It was on Death Mountain while your brothers looked on in terror.”

“That wasn’t you,” Green took the first swing.

“But it was,” he dodged, “to make it even better, you were holding back just like you are now.”

“I distinctly remember me coming out alive in that life or death fight,” Green gritted his teeth and stabbed.

“Vio took pity on you then, I have no such thing.”

While the two fought, Red and Blue worked on their jobs. Red was trying to fix the lantern, which broke and wouldn’t stay lit due to the wind. He didn’t want to resort to his fire rod, yet, if it came down to it, he would.

“Find anything?” Red asked Blue hopefully.

“No, no,” Blue muttered, scrounging in the dark, “I can’t see anything- wait!”

He felt something smooth and round. When brought into the light of his sword, he recognized it.

“The moon pearl!” Blue gasped, “if we take Dark Link to the Dark World then he’ll be solid and actually killable. Vio might be shoved out of his body, too.”

“That doesn’t sound right...”

“It’s the best we got! Green, move him into the moonlight!”

Green nodded, not even knowing the planned. He stepped backwards.

“Do you think I am going to do what you just said?” Dark Link laughed, “ridiculous.”

Green murmured, gathering his courage, “for Vio. HYAH!”

He ran forward, but not at Dark Link. He ran to the left of him. At the last second before he would’ve sliced him in two, Green flipped his sword over and smacked his hilt into the enemy’s stomach, just like Vio did to him a long time ago. Dark Link was knocked out cold, but he wouldn’t be for long.

“Nice move!” Blue complimented and reached his hand into the air with the moon pearl. They pushed Dark Link into the moonlight and they were all whisked away into the Dark World.

Once they were fully in the new dimension, the three looked to Dark Link. Weirdly enough, what Blue predicted happened. Dark Link gained a more solid form, a form that couldn’t handle Vio’s body, so it rejected it. Vio was tossed out and Red looked him over.

“He’s breathing!” He sighed in relief.

“We need to get out of here!” Green shouted, “Dark Link may be killable here, but we can’t ignore the echo affects. Remember, any injury we give to him goes to who he’s copying.”

“It’s going to suck when we reform then,” Red groaned, “that was a pretty hard hit you gave him.”

Green felt queasy just thinking about it. When Dark Link started to stir, he held hands with his brothers and ordered Blue to send them back. Just as the magic took them, they caught sight as some very annoyed red eyes.

When they landed back in Hyrule, they immediately fused back together. Vio’s injuries would have killed him if they didn’t, because any injury one of them would gain while split would lesson when back as one. The stab wound in the back was now nothing but a knick, the real kicker being the body loss.

Then the hilt hit from Green took over. Four doubled over in pain and coughed.

“Jeez, guys,” he asked the voices in his head, “be more careful next time.”

“Four?” A new voice appeared, it was Hyrule, “Four! We’ve been looking for you. What happened?”

He put on a smile and lied, “just ran into a moblin den on accident.”

Hyrule pouted, “and you didn’t invite me!”

Four laughed and hoped Hyrule didn’t notice him slipping the moon pearl into his pocket.

Chapter Text

-TW for Death-

It rained that day. Of course it did.

Wild used to laugh at all the times it rained in his Hyrule and everyone would complain. Wind would have the brilliant idea to conduct the Song of Passing to move the day along or the Ballad of Gales to pass the clouds away.

But today it rained.

The rocking of the boat made Legend sea sick. He almost refused to come, but he forced himself to. He remembered teaching Wind how to build a makeshift raft in case he ever needed it. Wind looked at him like he was crazy when he refused to step foot on the thing.

“Don’t you trust my building abilities?” He joked.

Legend ended up falling off the boat and going into shock. Wind pulled him back to land and helped him get back on his feet. Suddenly, the ocean didn’t seem bad.

He felt so sick.

Warriors held on tightly to Wind’s Phantom Sword, unafraid that he might cut himself. Wind showed off his weapon so proudly, decreeing it as the only thing that could kill spirits.

If only it was a spirit he faced. If only a cut wasn’t all it took.

Hyrule gripped the side of the banister, in case he might collapse there where he stood. Sky was catatonic on a barrel in a corner. Four was no where to be found, but arguing was heard below deck. Twilight had covered his face and wouldn’t look anyone in the eye. Time was staring at the empty sea, cursing the moment that any child had to fight in age long wars.

The wind was quiet that day. Wind was gone.

It was an easy battle, it should’ve been. They had plenty of fairies and potions that they thought they would be fine. A monster snuck up on Wind, he never told them he was injured.

The injury was infected.

Wind died days later.

The goddesses granted them some mercy, immediately sending them back to Wind’s time. It wasn’t as eloquent as they would’ve liked, dropping them in the throne room while Tetra was doing some royal duty. She saw his body wrapped in sheets and...

Warriors couldn’t forget her scream.

Tetra mourned and shrieked in rage, daring to kill anyone who had anything to do with Wind’s death. The names of the goddesses were thrown around and lightning struck outside. She eventually calmed down enough to ask about a funeral.

“I have- I have to tell his family,” she stood up straight, trying to put on a strong face, “but I think he deserves a sailor’s funeral. It’s what he would have wanted.”

She bid them adieu and the Links were left alone until she returned with the family. Most of them still hadn’t processed the death. Wild, definitely didn’t.

“I could’ve saved him,” he looked through all of his inventory, looking for the one potion could reverse death, “I should have.”

“Cub,” Twilight whispered, “it’s not your fault. None of us knew.”

Wild cried, “I can’t lose anyone else! Without him here, I’ll forget about him. That’s what always happens.”

Nothing anyone said could make Wild feel better. He didn’t say anything more for the days to come.

Tetra returned with the family, Wind’s Grandmother and Aryll, his sister. Behind them was Linebeck, a man who Wind once talked about being a father to him. They ran to his body, the Grandmother cupping his lifeless cheek.

“Link,” she whispered. She didn’t know how she outlasted a grandchild.

“Big brother,” Aryll tugged at his shirt, “please, you have to wake up. You always oversleep.”

Linebeck took off his hat, “kid, you were supposed to be the death of me, not the other way around.”

The next days went in a blur. Wind’s body was carried away to his house where he would stay until everyone was emotionally ready to say goodbye. Though, to be honest, they would never be.

The only other issue about the funeral was about which boat to use. Tensions were running high and Tetra and Linebeck were already quick to anger people, a death didn’t help any.

Tetra claimed that since Wind spent his first adventure and part of his second on her pirate ship that they should use it. Wind was one of her crew, so, as his captain and queen, she should have the right to relieve him of duty.

Linebeck pointed out that the first adventure was spent mostly on the King of Red Lions and the second one was entirely on his boat. The man was close to breaking on the inside, making it clear that he needed the solace for it be on his ship. He forced Wind to do all the work, and he felt guilty about it.

They eventually compromised. They would use Tetra’s ship, as there was more space, but Linebeck would be the one to send him off.

The day of the funeral came. It was raining. The boat was rocking. The weapons were laid down. The wind was quiet.

Everyone gathered around Tetra, most a little worse for wear. The entire party contained the Links, his family, Tetra’s crew, and a few of his friends that he met on his journey.

“We gather here today,” she spoke in an out of sarcasm, it was a defensive reflex that she had for her emotions, “because you know why! Link, or the Hero of Winds, or Trains, died due to injuries sustained in battle. He was stupid, didn’t tell anyone he was injured, and he became sick.”

She looked at everyone, “all of you knew Link for different reasons. Some of you are family, some of you his crew members. Some of you he saved and some of you are all three. For me, I don’t know what he was, and now I’ll never know...”

She choked on some tears and she had to step down. Wind’s Grandmother took her in her arms and soothed her as she cried. Aryll was looking at the ground, she had been crying since she learned and wouldn’t stop anytime soon.

Warriors stepped forward to speak. He had buried many comrades before, he knew what everyone was feeling, and some of those thoughts could be dangerous.

“Even though he’s gone,” he started, gripping the Phantom Sword, “Wind- Link wouldn’t want us to blame ourselves for his death. I don’t know most of you, but for you guys-“

He looked to the Links, especially to Wild.

“We couldn’t have saved him. He didn’t tell us he was injured, so there’s no amount of guilt that can bring him back.”

Wild didn’t move. He wasn’t processing anything at the moment.

“We’ll remember him,” Warriors smiled bittersweetly, “in my time he’s a renowned Hero that many look up to. He did a lot of good and he made a lot of friends. He was like a brother to me, and I will wear the honor of being his friend like a badge for the rest of my life.”

He sat the sword on Wind’s wrapped up body, “goodbye, Wind.”

It was then everyone said goodbye. The pirates all walked through first and each individually saluted him. Makar and Medli played the songs he taught them together and bowed their heads in prayer. Aryll put her telescope next to his sword and his Grandmother laid their family shield over both. Tetra took off her right glove, her triforce hand, and placed it on him as well.

The Links were a different matter. They had been traveling with Wind for months straight. They all knew him, flaws and all. They knew how he used to have a lisp and could whistle high enough that only dogs could hear. They knew that he used to try to swim to the edge of the world as a kid and that he had to have a rope tied on him when he went to the shore. They knew too much for them to be considered anything but family.

Twilight bowed his head and prayed, Wild at his side. Four had collected himself enough that he managed to whisper out a shaky goodbye. Sky already prayed for his soul to be at peace and for Hylia to grant him a wonderful afterlife, but it didn’t hurt to do it again. Time and Hyrule didn’t say anything, it was more of a silent thing for them.

Legend couldn’t walk near the body, his fear of the ocean wouldn’t let him be within ten feet of the railing. He could only stare from afar and wonder how this happy boy who loved the ocean so much, would soon never leave it. This is why Legend worked alone, he wouldn’t have to deal with any more losses if he stuck to that.

Once everyone was done, Linebeck stepped forward. He cleared his throat awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck.

“I have the honor of sending Link off,” he said softly, “I hate to admit it, but I’m a coward. I always have been, but Link was never one to run away from danger. He was so courageous that when I was sent fleeing from the Temple of the Ocean King, he marched in sword first. He was so selfless that he saved me when I didn’t deserve it. I couldn’t be prouder to call anyone else but Link...”

He toon a shaking breath and gripped the railing.

“My son,” he finished, “he made a man out of a cowardly lion and I tried to do everything to repay him. I felt protective of him and I hoped he felt the same of me. He was, and is, my son, regardless of where we both came from. Now, your Majesty?”

Tetra wiped away her tears and held onto one end of the cloth that Wind’s body was on while Linebeck held onto the other.

“It is time to send Link off into the greatest voyage,” Linebeck said, “dying is an awfully big adventure, one that he will charge forward through and come out stronger. Sailor...”

Everyone stood at attention as Tetra and Linebeck sent Wind to place he loved most. He was now in his home of the Great Sea and would soon meet his ancestors in the flooded Hyrule.

“I relieve you of your duty.”

They all watched as his body and items disappeared into the depths. Maybe one day, someone would uncover his treasure like he did so many years ago, but it was unlikely. No one explored more than Wind did in this ocean.

Tetra went to steer the ship back to New Hyrule and Linebeck was confronted by Time. Neither said a word as Time pulled Linebeck into a hug, one that had a solidarity between those who had lost a child. Everyone else settled down and just wished to be home.

No one noticed as a soft blue glow emerged from the waters and followed them.

Linebeck was right, dying was a big adventure, but Wind was short and ready to prove anyone otherwise. Wind’s spirit laughed as he hung from the mast and looked into the distance with his sister’s telescope. He was never truly leaving any of them, he had a duty to fulfill. Who was Linebeck to say whether or not he was relieved? The only thing that owned Wind was the wind itself.

And the wind was blowing. Was this the wind that Ganondorf felt, or something else? The wind of death, or the wind of freedom?

It was both.

Wind smiled as he turned into a seagull and landed on Legend’s head.

“Hey!” Legend grumbled, “nasty bird.”

Wind squawked at him and nestled deeper in the rat’s nest. Legend didn’t really to seem to mind, in fact he seemed better by such a familiar creature being near him.

Off to the next adventure, as the rain stopped pouring.

Chapter Text

“Twilight, I’m fine!” Wild protested, “I haven’t relapsed in weeks and this is my Hyrule. It’s perfectly safe for me to run to my house.”

The group all simultaneously rolled their eyes at the third time Twilight and Wild had this argument. Every once in while, Wild’s memory would just stop working and the last thing he remembered would be around beating Ganon. They all remembered the first time they discovered this quirk.

They were fishing and Wild had walked down stream to find something. The next thing anyone knew was that a bunch of explosions went off and they all went running to see what was wrong. They found Wild messing with his remote bombs and he jumped back when he saw them.

“Wild,” Time rubbed his forehead, “I thought we agreed that you would no longer use bombs for fishing.”

“Uh?” Wild looked at his slate and then back to Time, “who are you?”

“Funny joke, Wild,” Twilight grabbed his arm, “seriously? Remember I’m the one Time gets mad at when you act up.”

Wild yanked his arm back, “I have never seen any of you before. My name is Link, not Wild. You must be confused.”

“Oh,” Twilight recognized the blank stare that Ilia once gave him, “this is bad.”

Against his will, they dragged Wild back to their camp and Twilight told them to give him space until his memory returned. Twilight spent the next day and a half showing Wild things that he thought would jog his memory. The whole time Wild was being difficult to work with, trying to leave camp the moment Twilight turned his head.

Finally, it was Wolfie that brought him back. The camp was empty for the first time, sans Wild and Twilight, so he could safely transform. The act of him seeing a man turn into a wolf and vice versa caused something to click in Wild.

“Twilight, oh my gods,” he clutched his face, “what happened to me?”

“I was gonna ask you the same thing,” Twilight smiled, “did you hit your head or something.”

He shook his head, “I dropped the slate and, when I stood up, I couldn’t remember how I got here or anything since moving Zelda into my house.”

“We’ll figure it out. I’m glad you’re back, Cub.”

They never found out why this happened, they just got used to it. Since then, Wild forgot a total of five times.

The first time was a week after his initial spout of amnesia. Twilight immediately recognized the problem and dragged him away once more. The others were heavily concerned.

The second time was a month later. It caught them all off guard, because they thought the problem was fixed. They started to look into brain damage and it’s affects, in case that was the source.

The third time was two weeks after that. They were ashamed to admit, but they didn’t realize that it even happened for two days. Wild forgot in the middle of a conversation with them, so he pretended to know what was going on until he slipped up. At this point, the Links came to expect the amnesia.

The fourth and fifth time were a month after in the same week. No one was concerned anymore and just told Wild that they were friends and his memory would come back in a day.

It had been two months since then and Wild argued that being back in his Hyrule was helping him.

Which brought them to this argument. Twilight didn’t like leaving Wild alone anymore and Wild hated that he didn’t trust his abilities.

“Twilight, shut up!” Legend shouted, “let him go.”

“If he forgets he’ll be with his Zelda,” Hyrule said more politely, “who will know what to do.”

When they first arrived in Wild’s Hyrule and met his Zelda they asked about the possibility of it being a side effect of the shrine. She didn’t know, but she was told what to do if it happened when she was around.

“Then it’s settled!” Wild didn’t even bother to wait for a response from Twilight. He pulled out his slate and vanished in ribbons of blue light. Twilight glared at where Wild used to be and went to pout.

Hours would pass and there was no sign of Wild. It should have been an hour, at most, but there wasn’t even a message from him.

“Maybe he wanted to sleep at his house,” Warriors suggested, “gods know I would want to sleep in a bed.”

“He’ll be back tomorrow, Pup,” Time patted Twilight on the head, “it’s my watch, you go to sleep.”

Reluctantly, Twilight went to bed…

Wild didn’t show up in the morning.

“He’s forgotten again!” Twilight declared, “I knew it!”

“We can’t always watch him,” Four told him, “he’s not a prisoner.”

“Until we find out what is wrong, it’s too dangerous for him to be alone.”

“Let’s just find him,” Wind pointed to the direction of Hateno, “he’s probably still at his house.”

They all started walking down the path. They ran across a few travelers with horses or donkeys and they would engage in some chat. A few of them mentioned how everything was so much safer in Hyrule that they didn’t feel the need to even carry a weapon.

“I haven’t seen a bokoblin in weeks,” one smiled, “our Hero must’ve cleared them all out.”

“I just wish the lizalfoes would go away,” their partner shivered, “where do they get lightning arrows.”

They made it to right before dueling peaks when Sky pointed to a Sheikah Tower. On the lower platforms, Wild was swinging around his weapon, bored.

“Wild!” Sky called, “what are you doing?”

Wild didn’t respond. He was staring vacantly at Hyrule Castle.

Twilight sighed. He grabbed his clawshot and hooked on to the platform above Wild. Wild jumped at the metal clanging and looked up to see him dropped down to his platform.

“I am honestly going to kill you,” Twilight huffed, “what are you doing here, Cub?”

“Who are you?” Wild gestured his weapon at Twilight, who was unimpressed.

“I knew it,” he repeated from earlier, “when you remember, expect a long conversation. I’m Twilight, we’re friends, and you have amnesia that makes you forget me and our friends, but it’ll come back to you in about a day.”

“How can I trust you?” He arched an eyebrow, “I’ve been attacked by ‘friends’. Are you Yiga?”

“No,” this is the third time Wild asked this, but he hadn’t been this skittish. Twilight took note of the Yiga sickle he held. He must have been attacked while he was gone. So much for safe roads. “Besides, we have the Master Sword, which only those chosen by the goddess can have, so we’re trustworthy.”

“The Sword that Seals the Darkness?” He used the full title, looking interested, “how do you have it? It should be hidden away.”

“Long story, that I will not explain again. You’ll remember shortly, c’mon.”

Wild followed, keeping his distance. Everyone immediately recognized the look in his eyes and reintroduced themselves.

“Hi?” Wild said uncertainly.

“Did you ever make it home?” Twilight asked, “or did you come from there?”

“Home?” Wild shook his head, “no.”

“Then let’s go there, your Zelda can jog your memory faster than we can.”

“My Zelda?”

“We know multiple Zeldas,” Wind explained, “it’s the easiest way to not confuse us. Though, my Zelda’s actual name is Tetra, so I just call her that.”

Wind always liked to talk about Tetra, Twilight smiled at the obvious young love.

“She’s at my house?” He asked, “shouldn’t she be with the Sheikah?”

Twilight shrugged, “unless there’s a plan that you didn’t tell us about, she should be in Hateno.”

“Hateno, right!” Wild grinned, “you guys will love my home.”

“We’ve been there before,” Four explained, “when we appeared in front of the lab.”

“Really?”

Wild was more talkative than he usually was, but Twilight chalked that up to the amnesia. Each time he forgot he became a little different, caused by however the environment affected him. He might’ve talked to travelers like they had during the night.

They quickly made their way to Hateno, giving Wild a rundown on what their plan was, since he was so adamant to know. They asked if he had eaten and he looked down.

“Why didn’t you get food from your slate?” Hyrule asked.

“My slate?” Wild looked to his hip, where the Sheikah Slate hung, “I ran out.”

“Gave all the apples to Epona?” Legend laughed, “she’s never going to love you as much as Twilight.”

“Shut up, Legend,” Twilight barked.

“Hey, Link!” A guard at the entrance to Hateno waved, “who are your friends?”

Wild flinched for some reason before recovering himself. He smiled and returned the wave.

“Some people I met while traveling,” he lied, “they want to see my house.”

“Is that why you’re back real soon?” The guard tilted his head, “the nightshift said they saw you already last night. You must’ve left while we were switching.”

“Yeah, must’ve,” Wild walked passed and the Links followed him. He looked around and saw his house past the bridge. He started walking with a purpose.

“Slow down, Cub!” Twilight ran after him.

“Oh, sorry!” He slowed down.

“You saying sorry more than usual,” Legend pointed out, “it’s weird.”

“Sorry?” He opened the door to his house.

There was movement in the house that stopped at the door opening. Wild’s Zelda was chopping carrots and she froze mid-chop.

“Zelda!” Wild called.

What none of them expected was Zelda to throw her knife into the door, an inch from Wild’s shoulder.

“What the f*ck?” Legend stepped in the house and removed the knife, “I though my Zelda was the violent one?”

“Legend?” Zelda questioned as she pulled a claymore off the wall. She nearly fell over picking it up, but she did so nonetheless. “What are you doing?”

“Wild forgot again,” Twilight explained, “what’s wrong?”

“Zelda,” Wild stepped forward, “what was that for?”

“Back away, Yiga,” she gritted her teeth.

“Yiga?” Twilight looked at her like she was crazy.

“Apologies for my words,” Zelda glared, “but you are all a bunch of dunces.”

“Thanks,” Legend drawled.

“Me and Link have an agreement,” Zelda backed up, “he wouldn’t ever use a Yiga’s weapon again.”

Wild looked at his sickle, “I was attacked and all my weapons broke. This is all I had to defend myself.”

“Don’t care,” Zelda spat, “if you were really Link, then you would have came here for back-up weapons.”

“This is ridiculous,” Warriors said, “a Yiga wouldn’t look like Wild or have the Sheikah Slate.”

“Yiga can shapeshift, but only with people they have seen before,” Zelda explained, “and if you have the slate, use it!”

Everyone stood still, waiting for someone to move. Wild looked shocked at the accusation and reached for the slate.

Then, he chuckled. It started out low before growing into a maniacal laugh.

“Should’ve figured I couldn’t trick the Princess,” ‘Wild’ tossed the slate aside. The magic that the Yiga used to transform disappeared from it, revealing its true form to be a pouch. “But I sure had to be convincing to trick his friends.”

The Links all jumped into action, pulling out their weapons and pointing them at the Yiga. Twilight and Legend were the closest to the Yiga and Wind ran in to protect the Princess. The rest stood outside the house, blocking the only exit.

“Just my luck,” the Yiga twiddled with his sickle, “the Hero has amnesia again? You completely bought it when I said I didn’t know you.”

“Your Highness,” Twilight addressed Zelda, “where is Wild?”

“He left last night, right after arriving,” she answered, “he said he was going to meet you guys.”

The Yiga laughed, “we have him! Soon, his blood will spill along with your’s, Princess.”

Twilight knocked the sickle out of his hands and raised his sword to his neck. The expression on his face was the only thing that kept him from being afraid to hurt Wild. The face was one of malice and mischievousness that Wild would never have.

“What were your orders?” Twilight demanded, “I know you have a commander.”

“What else but to kill the Princess?” The Yiga smirked, “but I was also told to take out those claiming to be Heroes. Who’s the one with the Master Sword, you said?”

Without warning, the Yiga jumped to the ceiling, grabbing onto the light fixture. He swung, kicking Legend in the face and narrowly missing Twilight’s sword. Zelda ran to the second floor and Wind protected the bottom of the staircase.

The Yiga teleported outside, behind all the Links, before quickly teleporting back inside. With Twilight distracted, he picked up his sickle and swiped, nicking Twilight in the stomach.

The fighting went on like that for a couple of minutes. The Yiga teleported out of sight to suddenly strike. A couple of times he mixed it up and teleported to the second floor, scaring the living daylights out of Zelda. That lead to Hyrule taking guard there after he ran inside to help.

Finally, there was an explosion. The roof partially collapsed and scattered all onto the floor. A big board hit the Yiga in the head and knocked him to the ground.

“What was that?” Wind asked.

“Link!” Zelda cried as a figure in blue jumped through the destroyed ceiling, grabbing the Yiga by the cuff of his shirt.

Wild, the real Wild, was panting. He was covered in blood, whether it was his or someone else’s was in question, and looked tired. His clothes were ripped and his cloak burnt at the edges. His hair was cut unevenly and now only reached his shoulders.

“It’s you!” The Yiga’s eyes widened, “how did you escape?”

“Get better soldiers,” Wild glared, punching him in the face. He pulled out his weapon, an ancient short sword that was now pulsing red. It was nearly broken.

The Yiga shook his head fearfully, seeing death in his future. He called up to the Princess, putting on a pained expression.

“Zelda!” He cried, “it’s me, Link, don’t let him kill me.”

Zelda covered her face, “you are not him!”

“Look at him, he’s covered in blood! He’s going to bring the Yiga here.”

Wild punched him again, shutting him up.

“Link,” Zelda squeaked out, “don’t kill him, please. Let him go, he won’t attack again.”

“Zelda,” Wild huffed, “look away.”

The Yiga never relented. If he let him go, he would just tell his comrades where he lived and how to trick the Heroes. He used to grant them mercy, letting them teleport away.

Never again.

“NO!” The Yiga cried as Wild sliced at his throat, silencing him forever. The sword broke mid-strike, exploding sharp fragments everywhere. A painful death, for sure. The head rolled away, morphing back into its original form of a brunet young adult with red eyes.

Wild looked at the Links with crazed eyes. He pointed directly to Twilight.

“I told you I wouldn’t forget.”

Chapter Text

“I don’t get paid enough for this,” Warriors cried.

“We don’t get paid,” Legend snapped.

“Wild,” Wind cooed to a pile of leaves, “it’s alright, you’re safe.”

A hissing noise came from beneath the leaves and stick flew out, smacking Warriors in the head. ‘Wild’ was an accurate name for this absolute feral creature that they came across while stuck on the plateau.

They appeared in a new Hyrule a week ago and found themselves hundreds of feet above the country with no foreseeable way down. They figured they were sent there for a reason, so they explored. They found nothing except for a crazed teen who attacked them the moment they crossed what they thought was his home.

This person couldn’t speak, could barely walk, and was afraid of everything. That fear lead him to only have two responses: fight or flight. He would run away from the largest of the group, like Time, or he would throw things at what he considered the weakest, like the oblivious Warriors who didn’t see him jump out of a tree and almost strangle him the first day they met.

Collectively, they all agreed to avoid this teen. Well, almost, this is. Wind still pushed the boundaries of how much the teen, who they dubbed Wild, was willing to trust them.

On the third day of being stuck, Wind came back to Wild’s home and talked to him until he slowly came out of hiding. He had no idea what Wind was saying, but the calmness of his voice allowed him to see that he wasn’t a threat.

That’s how the Links got a new friend. Wild would come out more and more and he would interact with everyone. It was a little touch and go, since he would still run away at the slightest things, but he wasn’t trying to murder them anymore.

Everything was fine until Wild slept in their camp. Sky had fallen asleep and when woke up he found Wild curled around the Master Sword, like a child might a doll. Sky’s breathing stopped and he silently woke up some of the other Links.

“What the heck, Sky?” Legend groaned, “what’s so important?”

“W-wild!” He whispered in fear, “he’s a Hero.”

“There is no way-“ Warriors slowly opened his eyes, freezing at the sight of the teen snoring away, “how?!”

Everyone was awake now, and no one knew what to do. Wind’s grin stretched so far that it made them all nervous of what he and Wild would do if Wild were to join their group. Time cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention.

“Let’s wake him up,” he said.

Mistakes were made.

Sky thought it would be best to remove the weapon from the man who would definitely hurt himself with it before waking him up, but that only caused Wild to jolt out of his sleep. Wild saw all of them standing over him, some with concerned faces, and Sky taking the sword back, which caused him to shriek and run away.

By run away, he really just crawled. He scrambled away from the camp into the night.

“Nice going, Sky!” Wind grumbled, “we could’ve been sleeping.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Four brought out his lantern, “we have to figure what’s going on. Why a Hero is like... that.”

With some hesitance, the group spread out to look for Wild. Wind split into a group with Legend and Warriors and he immediately went to Wild’s leaves, knowing that he would be there. And that is how they arrived in this situation: Wind trying coax Wild out, Legend yawning, and Warriors having a headache.

“Hisssss!” Wild shook the leaves around him, imitating the stone talus that lived next door. Why weren’t they running away?

“You wanna play again?” Wind asked hopefully, bringing out his baton, “you have to come out if you want to play.”

Wild stopped moving, recognizing the thing that made the wind move to whatever direction he wanted. He liked magic items.

“This won’t work,” Warriors spat, “he doesn’t understand us and we don’t understand him. We’ll get nowhere.”

“Unless,” Legend thought, “there’s a voice in the sword, yeah? She’s connected to the Hero? Would she be able to understand him?”

“I’ve met Fi,” Warriors nodded, “it is a possibility, but only Sky can hear her right now.”

“Then go get Sky,” Wind waved them away, “I’ll stay with Wild.”

Without complaint, the two ran off in the direction of where Sky’s group went. Wind made some progress, getting Wild to stick his head out.

“Beluowg,” he muttered gibberish, “akdm wji lma.”

“Soon we can talk,” Wind continued talking in a calm manner, “would you like that? You can tell us how you got here and we can tell you about us!”

“Heoal,” Wild babbled, “kam laojdoen aklldo.”

Wind giggled at the nonsense and Wild was finally out in the open. Wind allowed him to play with his baton, causing him to laugh as his dirty hair swayed in the wind.

Then, Sky ran up to them, Master Sword in hand. Wild hissed once more and buried himself back into the leaves.

“Wild,” Sky frowned, “I’m sorry for scaring you. Would you like the Master Sword back?”

He pushed the hilt of the blade into the leaves. Slowly, Wild reached out and touched the shiny blade.

“Hello, Master,” a robotic voice rattled him, “it is good to see you again.”

“Ahh!” Wild screamed and scuttled backwards.

“It’s okay!” Sky waved his hands, “that’s just Fi, she’s really nice.”

“Master,” Fi addressed Sky, “I am sensing distress from my youngest Master.”

“Thanks, Fi,” Sky chuckled, “Wild, she’s a friend.”

Wild inched forward again, placing a single finger on the sword. This time, Fi spoke slower and less sudden. Wild smiled at finally understanding someone else for the first time ever.

“He says,” Fi translated to Sky, “‘there is another weird lady in my head.’ how do you respond?”

“Another?” Sky asked.

Wild pointed with his free hand to the destroyed castle that was just barely visible.

“It seems the Princess has been calling out to him,” Fi explained, “that is the other voice he can hear.”

“The Princess is still in trouble?!” Wild winced at the sudden loud noise. Sky immediately recognized him mistake and calmed down. “Can you tell him we’re friends, that we’re here to help him?”

“Certainly.”

Wild perked up at that and, to everyone’s surprise, he completely left his tree nook. He grabbed onto Sky’s hand cape and spoke again.

“Master, he is asking where the scary man is and if he is friend.”

“Time?” A nod. “Yes, he is a friend, too. Do you want to see him?”

Once translated, Wild babbled ten times more. He half crawled, half dragged Sky with him, demanding to go to the scary Link. Wind and Legend found this absolutely hilarious.

“This is karma for something,” Legend covered his mouth, “I just don’t know what for.”

“Wild,” Wind took Wild’s hand off of Sky, “we can take you Time, you don’t have to hold Sky down. You can take my hand.”

Reluctantly, Wild places his hand in Wind’s and hopped behind the boy. In any other circumstance it would have been funny to see a man being lead by a child.

They all walked to where Time was, in front of the Temple of Time, and Wild ran to him. He pointed to his sword and then to some ruins in the distance with a smile on his face.

“Wild?” Time tried to calm him down, “what is the matter?”

Sky jogged up to them and handed Wild the blade of the sword so that Fi could talk to him.

“Master,” Fi returned, “he wants Master Time to follow him.”

“Why?”

“He is afraid of something.”

“What?” Sky’s eyes widened. He had seen Wild jump into a near freezing river while ricocheting off an explosion. What was he afraid of? Quite scared, Sky relayed the information.

Time nodded, “I’ll follow you.”

Wild clapped his hands, releasing the Master Sword. He clumsily went down the stone steps of the Temple of Time to a section of destroyed walls. He reached a point where he refused to go any farther, clutching onto a wall and pointing to a strange statue in the middle.

“These statues are at the temple as well,” Wind realized, “why is he afraid of this one?”

Time shrugged, walking forward at the behest of Wild. Then… there was a rapid beeping.

Everyone froze as the statue started to move and glow with malice. Its head rotated, revealing its eye that was now locked onto Time. Wild curled into a ball, putting his hands over his ears, and whimpered.

“That, that is not good,” Legend backed up, “is that a beamos?”

“Not one I recognize,” Time looked at the laser pointing at his chest, “beamos take less time to fire.”

“Regardless,” Warriors pushed Time behind the wall, cutting off the statue’s view point, “I don’t think you should stand in front of it as it tar-“

BOOM! The wall was no more and the beeping grew louder. They all looked to their right to see the statue ready to fire again.

“Beamos aren’t that strong,” Legend choked on his breath.

Time looked to Wild, seeing him shake with fear. He took note of the scars that lined his left side. The scars used to be of no consequence, he assumed he got them while living in woods that were full of monsters, but now... well, he wouldn’t be afraid of these for nothing.

“Do not fear, Wild,” Time readied his sword and charged.

Wild didn’t watch what happened. He blanked out for five minutes and, when he came to, the statue was destroyed. Time showed him a gear that blew off the statue as proof.

Wild’s eyes had stars in them and he hugged Time in thanks. He had nothing to fear now.

“You’re welcome,” Time ruffled his hair.

-

“Wild!” Warriors shouted, “get off!”

Weeks ago, he could never be so loud without scaring Wild. He almost missed those days, because, right then, Wild. Wouldn’t. Leave. Him. Alone!

Currently, the feral teen was holding onto the bottom of his scarf and was refusing to let go.

“No!” He pouted. Overtime, he had learn some words, though ‘no’ was his favorite. “Soft.”

Warriors slapped his own face, “I know it is, and you’ll ruin it if you keep pulling on it.”

“Just let him, War,” Legend walked over, “how can you say no to this face.”

Warriors wanted to punch off that smug smirk. Wild nodded and held on tighter.

“Leg!” He beamed, “Leg right. Soft.”

“I really hate you,” Warriors glared.

“I am loving everything about this,” Legend laughed, “you guys can’t handle Wild, yet you act so perfect all the time. Maybe this will knock you down a peg- hey!”

His monologue was interrupted as Wild jumped up and swiped Legend’s hat right off his head. He plopped it right on his own and returned to tying himself up in Warrior’s scarf.

“You little s-“ Legend snapped before stopping. Time had threatened him, saying that he swore in front of Wild he would regret it. “Give it back, you gremlin.”

“No!” Wild repeated, “soft!”

“Oh, how the tables turn,” Warriors crossed his arms in a very sad victory.

Neither Warriors or Legend would get their items back completely until Wild fell asleep that night. Legend wasted no time taking back his hat, but it was very hard for Warriors to remove Wild from his scarf. He looked so comfortable all swaddled up.

-

Wild was sad. Normally, he would greet Warriors in the morning and snuggle in his scarf, but Warriors was gone. He was called away for duty in his Hyrule for a short time and Wild had been down ever since.

Twilight felt bad for him, and wanted to help him. He didn’t know how, though.

One night they were resting by the campfire. Twilight was leaning against a log and Wild was on top of it. Everyone else was asleep and Wild was soon nodding off.

So, Twilight didn’t expect to be petted.

It was a cold night and it was the rare time that his pelt was covering his head. Wild’s hand fell over from the log and felt the soft fur, trailing the pelt calmly.

“Soft...” he murmured.

Oh, Hylia, Twilight froze. He couldn’t move, that would shock Wild. Not to mention, Wild was smiling just like when he had Warrior’s scarf. He must really like soft things.

Wait a minute...

No, he was not going to do that.

But he could, everyone else was asleep. No one would see and Wild certainly couldn’t tell.

What if he gave it away?

Twilight came to a decision and silently transformed into a wolf. Wild’s eyes grew and he hugged the wolf around the neck.

“Soft!” He babbled, “soft, soft!”

Twilight laid down next to the log and placed his head near Wild’s. Wild petted him and slowly fell asleep with a happy expression on his face.

Twilight nodded off, too, not even thinking of what excuse he would tell everyone in the morning.

Chapter Text

“Well,” Malon sat down at the table after a long day of work, “I can’t thank you boys enough for your work today and yesterday!”

“It was not-“ Twilight was about to say before he was interrupted.

Warriors decided that was the perfect time to mess around with some cabinets and he knocked something over. It was a bottle with a bright red label on it and Warriors was smiling like a kid.

“You can thank us by pouring us some of this stuff!” He gleamed, “it’s been a while since I’ve had a good drink.”

Malon looked at the bottle and laughed. Time, on the other hand, had one hand hanging over his wife’s shoulder and was glaring at Warriors.

“Honey,” the farmer slipped out of her husband’s grasp and grabbed the bottle from the captain, “you couldn’t handle this drink. Why don’t we get you something weaker?”

It was Warriors time to laugh, “don’t worry about me, I’m a soldier! I’ve had some drinks that could kill a Molduga.”

Malon sent a mischievous look to Time, who just slowly shook his head. Malon ignored the action and took out some glasses.

“Your funeral, honey,” she shrugged as she poured two cups, “just remember that I did warn you.”

She handed Warriors his cup and turned to the rest of the group, “any of you want a drink? Less potent, though.”

In the end, Twilight got a small cup, Legend got a medium, and Sky, Hyrule, and Wild declined.

“What about you?” Warriors, still holding his undrunk cup, asked Four.

“Maybe another time,” he responded with a shrug.

“Can you even drink?” Wild asked.

“Yeah!” Four protested, “I’m past the age limit of my Hyrule. I’m not a kid.”

“You’re either eleven or thirty-five and I could care less the actual answer,” Warriors pointed out.

Slowly, Wind spoke up, “can I have some?”

The room went quiet. Every head turned and looked to the thirteen year old asking for a drink.

Malon put a hand over her face to hide her smile, “you’re a bit too young to be doing that sort of thing.”

“But I’ve done it before!” Wind protested and that caused Twilight to spit out his drink.

“What?!” Twilight coughed.

Wind shrugged, “I’ve lived on a pirate ship for almost two years. Any injuries you get are cured by rum.”

“That’s not a habit you should do,” Time spoke, “you can drink on your ship, but in this house you won’t be.”

Wind huffed and crossed his arms, “this is dumb! Tetra would let me drink…”

The people with drinks started theirs, Warriors finally sipping his, and the others started talking.

“So, Time,” Legend asked after finishing his, “you aren’t going to get some?”

Time shook his head, “don’t drink.”

“You’re kidding me?” Warriors spluttered, “then who’s this drink for?”

He pointed to the other glass with his half empty cup and saw someone pick it up.

“For me, of course,” Malon smiled downed the whole glass, “this is my signature drink: Chateau Malon! The best and strongest drink you can get only from me.”

Time snorted and Malon glared at him.

“All right,” she huffed, “my husband was the one who found the recipe, but I’ve changed it enough to make it my own.”

“Wait a minute,” Legend asked Time, “you don’t drink, but you have a recipe for one?”

Time just shrugged.

“Well,” Warriors finished the rest of his cup, “that was easy. In fact, if you are so kind as to allow me another glass, I think I could have a couple more.”

“It’ll hit you in a moment,” Malon smiled, “but how ‘bout we have a little game?”

Warriors raised an eyebrow as Malon dug into the cabinet and pulled out two full bottles of Chateau Malon.

“First one to finish gets,” her eyes glimmered, “300 rupees!”

That was when Time stood up and took the bottles, “we don’t want to kill the boy! Grant him some mercy.”

“No fun,” the farmer frowned.

“I can handle it!” Warriors argued. No one beat him in a drinking contest.

Time gave a look of disbelief before looking back at Malon, “we don’t need the money.”

“The fence broke and we don’t have the supplies to replace it with. Plus, I want to change the gate and maybe get some more equipment.”

The couple were then caught in a starring contest that lasted a while. Everyone watched until Time sighed and handed Warriors a bottle.

“If you die,” he glared, “I saying it was suicide for doing this.”

Warriors smirked and clinked his bottle to Malon’s.

“Cheers,” he smiled.

“Good luck.”

Time shook his head slowly as they all watched the spectacle of what happened that night.

Needless to say, the fence was fixed by next week and Warriors was tossed into a water troff with only a half bottle gone.

No one out drinks Malon. That was the story learned by the Links.

Chapter Text

Time had a journal. He kept it with him at all times, even sleeping with it wrapped in his arms. He never let anyone see the inside.

This was not that weird. Wild had journals from his dead friends and he used his slate as a diary. Wind was constantly writing letters back to his sister. What caught Legend’s attention, though, was the fact that it was Time.

Time was secretive and never told them what he was thinking. Legend’s curiosity was going insane at the idea that Time’s thoughts could be written down there. He had to know.

“Time,” he asked for the fifth time, “what’s that journal for?”

Time smirked, closing the book, “haven’t you asked this before?”

“Leave him alone,” Twilight called from the fire pit, “I thought you learned your lesson with Wild?”

“Never!” Legend proclaimed, “c’mon, Time. Just tell me it’s a diary or something.”

“Do you really need to know?”

“...yes?”

Time laughed before walking away to sleep, “see you tomorrow, Legend.”

Legend would not be stopped. He waited.

Wind and Sky were the first to pass out. Wild and Twilight left to scavenge monster parts. Hyrule stared at him cautiously before thinking nothing of it and going to sleep. Finally, Four and Warriors drifted off.

His mission had begun. He grabbed his magic cape, going invisible, and tipped toed to where Time was sleeping. Like always, his journal sat clutched in his hands.

“Could you be anymore creepy?” Legend thought. Time apparently slept with his scared eye open. The pure whiteness of it freaked him out a bit, but he didn’t hesitate.

Slowly, Legend grabbed the journal and pulled it away. His heart stopped when Time’s ear flickered in his sleep. Eventually, he got the book and himself booked it.

“Oh, Hylia!” He breathed once he was far enough away. If Time found out he would kill him.

Eh, he shrugged, it would be worth it.

Opening the book, Legend didn’t know what he was expecting. Letters to Malon? A memoir? Whatever it was, he was not expecting sketches of everyone.

Each Link had a page. There was a sketch of what they looked like, their title and general information, and some notes from Time. Twilight’s page said “Relative? and Wild’s said “also related?”. There was even a page of Time, full of drawings of when he was a kid to when he was an adult.

Legend flipped to the page that had him. The drawing was good, he had to admit. There was an arrow pointing to his different colored hair streak that was labeled “pink.” His summary was listed as “Hero of Legend - after my death, fought Ganon multiple times, Hyrule, Lorule, Labrynna, Holodrum, and Hytopia.” There were little tidbits such as how he hated Hylia, was friends with Ravio (who had a mini sketch as well), and was too nosy for his own good. There was a counter that was marked five times and was under the heading of “asked about journal.”

Okay, a little weird.

Legend looked through the rest of the journal. There were pages on every person from Time’s Hyrule, and some from beyond. Malon had two pages and a timeline of their life together. His Princess Zelda had her own page as well, noting all of their interactions.

It seemed that this was an encyclopedia of every person Time had ever met. He wrote down what they looked like, how they acted, and how they knew him.

Legend groaned, this wasn’t interesting! It was just a weird way to categorize his life. There wasn’t even anything about his adventures, except for one page that only read “see first journal, with Malon.”

“This was a waste of time,” he walked back to Time and set the book back in its place, “now I gotta ask Malon?”

Legend left. The next morning Time gave no indication that he noticed that his journal was taken. Legend didn’t think about it for weeks after.

“Where’s my journal?” Time asked one day.

“Your journal?” Twilight glared at Legend, “what did you do?”

“Please,” he rolled his eyes, “I had nothing to do with this.”

“Where’d you last see it?” Wild asked.

Time frowned, “I don’t know. Where are we again?”

“Your time?” Twilight arched an eyebrow.

“Hyrule?” What was with him today?

“Yes,” Twilight answered, “where else would we be? Are you alright?”

Time didn’t directly answer, “I need to speak with the Princess.”

“You mean your Queen Zelda?”

“Yes.”

He didn’t respond anymore. Twilight ran up to him and tried to get him to talk and find out what the problem was.

“Malon told me that if you ever asked for the Princess specifically that you should go home first,” he explained.

Legend started to eavesdrop, he’d never heard this before.

“Malon? Why?” Time whispered.

Twilight shook his head, “I don’t know. I think we should listen and go to the Ranch.”

Time nodded, “of course.”

Wild was the one who gathered everyone to head off to Lon Lon Ranch. Wind was excited to see the animals again and ran forward with Sky. Legend, meanwhile leaned near Time.

“So,” he dragged out the word, “ever find your journal?”

Time huffed, “no.”

“What’s so important about it?” He pressed.

Time glanced at him before returning his gaze to the field, “that is none of your business.”

Legend bit his lip. Why did he have to be so secretive!

Time remained silent until they reached the ranch. He was so unaware of his surroundings that when his Epona ran up to him he jumped.

“Oh,” he patted her neck, “hello, Epona.”

“Back so soon?” Malon opened the front door and smiled, “I would’ve thought you fellas would be searching for your enemy.”

“Malon?” Time gasped.

Everyone looked at Time awkwardly. Why was he acting so weird? Apparently, Malon knew. She frowned and gesture for him to follow her inside.

“He ask for the Princess?” She asked Twilight who nodded, “let’s go, Link. I’ve got a copy of your journal.”

Time followed her inside and Malon told them to wait there for a bit. Legend was confused.

“What was that about?” He asked to anyone around him.

“Maybe he’s sick?” Wind suggested.

“Whatever it is,” Twilight poked Legend in the chest, “it is none of our business.”

“You act like I invade people’s privacy all the time,” Legend slapped his hand away, “I only do that once a month.”

“A gentleman,” Twilight walked to Epona and started to bring her back to the stable.

Legend grinned once he was out of sight. It had been a month since he’d taken the journal. Time for more privacy invading!

He slipped away from everyone’s view and found the window of Malon and Time’s room. He put on his magic cape and watched.

“I never find Navi?” He made out Time saying. Time was sitting on his bed when another journal in his hand. The page he was on had drawings of three fairies with different colored ink.

Malon, who was standing in front of him, sighed, “I’m sorry, Honey. We’re still looking for her, though.”

“And Tatl?” he changed the page of the book, “I thought she was just hiding. That she stole my journal.”

“Her and Tael visit sometimes,” Malon smiled, “we could invite them over soon if you want to see them again.”

Time shook his head, “it’s alright. Thank you, Malon.”

“You know,” Malon sat next to her husband, “even if you don’t remember it, I can see the stress gets to you. You’re safe here; you don’t have to be strong with me.”

Don’t remember? Legend was intrigued, what did that mean?

Something in Time cracked and a tear spilled out of his eye. He put his face in his hands and Malon hugged him.

“Why did they leave?” He asked solemnly, “I have no idea what’s going on. Tatl explained everything to me.”

“It’s okay,” Malon soothed, “it’s gonna be okay.”

“How do I live? I can’t even recognize people who are supposed to be my friends.”

“Your journal is what Tatl use to do for you, Honey. It usually works just fine.”

“It didn’t, though,” Time waved the book around, “I woke up and I had no idea what was going on. I still think I have a fairy. I’m a kid again, except I’m not...”

He pushed Malon away from him, refusing to let her near him.

“The only reason I know you is from Termina,” he confessed, “how do you know, or I know, that my feelings for you are for you.”

“Because I knew you before and after your mind went, well, you know,” she smiled, “I can see how much you love me and I love you just the same. Our time together might be short in your mind, but it lasts forever.”

“Stay away,” Time inched backward as she tried to touch his shoulder.

“Link, Honey?” Malon cooed, “I’m here to help.”

“The moon,” he closed his eyes, “the moon’s going to fall in 2 days, 12 hours, and 34 minutes.”

“The moon isn’t falling anymore.”

“You will forget me in 2 days, 12 hours, and 33 minutes.”

“I won’t forget you! This isn’t Termina.”

“Cremia, go away!”

“My name is Malon, you know that. You are at Lon Lon Ranch in Hyrule. You are Link, Captain of the Royal Guard to Queen Zelda, and you are married to me.”

“You are supposed to be at Romani Ranch, milking cows until 6:00 PM on the dot. Tatl told me I do not need to be at the Ranch until tonight at midnight.”

“This is Lon Lon Ranch and Tatl is no longer here, Link.”

“In 2 days, 12 hours, and 32 minutes you will die if I do not hurry.”

Time started rattling off numbers. Counting down from sixty and restarting once hit zero. Malon tried her best to coax him out of his panic attack, but she wasn’t able to do anything. Legend took this as his cue to leave.

He walked to the other end of the house, taking off his cloak, and slid down. What the f*ck?

“Legend!” Four ran up to him moments later, “where have you been?”

“I was just looking around,” he lied, “what?”

Four helped him up, “Malon says Time is sick. He’ll be better in about three days, until then she advise to not stay at the ranch or else we would get infected.”

A good cover up for what Legend just saw. Time was experiencing some kind of disassociating delusion or memory loss. It could be a periodic disorder, or some curse.

Whatever it was unnerved Legend.

“Alright?” Legend looked to Four, “where are we staying?”

“We’re going to Castletown and staying at an inn there,” Four answered, “everyone except Twilight. He’s staying here to take care of the animals while Malon takes care of Time.”

Really? Malon had to have asked Twilight specifically to stay behind. Maybe he would be told what was going on.

He would definitely bug him later.

Legend followed Four to the front of the house where Malon was waiting. She looked more tired than she did about ten minutes ago and waved them goodbye.

“So sorry that he got sick,” she apologized, “happens once a blue moon.”

“We understand, Malon,” Sky nodded, “wish him well from us.”

She smiled bittersweetly, “of course.”

Legend took one last glance at Twilight before walking out.

-

Malon lost all of the tenseness in her body once they were past the gate. She grabbed Twilight’s hand without warning.

“Malon?” He looked concerned, “what’s wrong?”

“We haven’t been honest with y’all,” she brought him into the house, “and he’s gonna be mad at me for telling you, but you need to know.”

She showed him to the master bedroom and opened the door a bit. Twilight just barely made out Time’s figure curled into a ball and rocking back in forth. He was still counting.

“3, 2, 1,” he whimpered, “2 days, 12 hours, 16 minutes. 60, 59...”

Malon closed the door softly and looked at Twilight with sad eyes.

“What’s wrong with him?” Twilight gaped.

Malon told him to sit down at the kitchen table and she told him a story.

Once there was a little boy who had saved the world. He lost his best friend in the process and went to go find her. This friend meant everything to the little boy, as she was practically a mother, so he would go to the farther reaches if it meant meeting her again.

His travels took him to another country, a land of death and despair, where he was attacked. Suddenly, the little boy had to save the world again.

All was good for a while. He found a new friend who helped him plan out his adventure and told him what time it was. He met new people who looked exactly like those in his first adventure, though they acted somewhat different.

Then it came to an end. See, the little boy only had three days until the bad guy would win. So, he made sure three days never came. He would reverse time over and over again and become strong enough to beat the villain.

The fairy warned him of abusing the power of time, but he had to save everybody. He needed to keep rewinding. He had to take the stress of him remembering while others forgot.

Three days turned into weeks. The weeks turned into months. The months into years. And so on and so on. The little boy wasn’t quite so little anymore.

Eventually, the stress got to him. The days would blend together into mush that it no longer mattered if he tried to remember anything of it. He went through the same towns, the same dungeons, and the same monsters, and none of it mattered.

The fairy had to keep track of everything for him now. The boy’s mind was fried and shut off up to the first three days. It was like he became one with the citizens of the country, who forgot whenever the loop restarted. Only the fairy remembered, and she tried her best to finish up the quest quickly.

When the bad guy was finally slain, the fairy and boy parted. He thought everything would be fine now that the time travel was over.

The three days stayed. Every three days, between the stroke of midnight to six in the morning, the boy would forget once more. The only way he knew time passed was with his bomber’s notebook, which listed everything he and the fairy did.

He would make more journals, filling them with faces of those he met and the timeline of his life. A quick note of the given circumstances would be on the first page and that would be all he needed to live his life normally. Muscle memory served the boy in his fights and a nagging feeling would draw him close to those he cared about.

Unless his journals were to vanish. The boy would be back in the country, this time friendless and alone, and with an impossible task set before him. He would be surrounded by strangers and have to play their games to not give himself away.

Malon finished her story, letting it sink in. Twilight couldn’t even begin to understand. This was different than what Ilia and Wild had, those were somewhat reversible. This? He didn’t know what this was.

“Time forgets everything up the beginning of his second adventure,” he spoke slowly, “every three days?”

“Yes,” Malon admitted sadly, “he needs to read his journal first thing on the ‘dawn of the first day,’ as he calls it, or he spirals, like now.”

“Is this why you told me to alert you if he mentions the Princess?”

“From his perspective, the Queen is still a Princess, so it’s a pretty good way to tell when he doesn’t know.”

“He doesn’t remember us, ever?” Twilight felt a pain in his chest.

“I’m afraid not,” she laughed bitterly, “you should have seen his face the night after he told me about you. That was the third day. He was confused as to why eight boys were in our house. He at least has slight memory of his connections, the journals just reinforce them.”

“Is there no way to fix this?” There had to be a way. There always was.

She shook her head, “it’s best when we have a fairy to help him. They can naturally communicate with him and more easily explain than a journal ever could. That’s why we’re searching for…for her.”

“But no cures?”

“It’s psychological, so no medicines could fix this. And I’m the only one he can talk to about this stuff.”

“Why tell me this?” Twilight shook, “if there’s nothing we can do.”

Malon placed her hand over his, “because I know how much you care for Time. If this was to happen again, someone needs to explain. I won’t always be here. Besides... I saw Legend eavesdropping, I knew you would be the least likely to tell him the full story without Link’s permission.”

“Legend?” Twilight snarled, “I told him to leave it alone.”

“Don’t worry about him. I’ll tell Link to ‘accidentally lose some deku seeds’ in his bag. That is, when he’s better.”

“So, we just wait? Until he forgets he’s having an existential crisis?”

“Now you’re getting it,” she squeezed his hand, “thank you for helping. Maybe one day he’ll be better again.”

It would be a long 2 days, 11 hours, and 39 minutes.

Chapter Text

The Links got snowed in on one winter night at Lon Lon Ranch, so Malon had an idea to entertain themselves. She pulled out a deck of cards and they started playing a game of her father’s invention. Time’s face was one of disgust.

“Is this really wise?” He asked, “cabin fever mixed with your father’s game?”

Malon grinned, “what are you talking about? This is the *perfect* time to play it.”

The game was a confusing one. Its name was Castletown and it involved varying rounds of trying to get the correct assortment of cards. There were a few more rules, but that was the basic gist.

Malon and Time sat down and started shuffling the cards. Twilight already knew how to play and was explaining it to the others. Legend, Warriors, Hyrule, and Sky were all the rest playing. Wind went to go mess with something and Four was reading a book. Wild, meanwhile, was cooking various food, entertaining himself by making the weirdest concoctions.

“So,” Twilight finished explaining, holding up a joke card, “you do not want this in your hand at the end of the round. Got it?”

“And remember!” Wild lied from the kitchen, he had already played the game, too, “aces are worth 13 and 1!”

“No, they are not!” Twilight corrected quickly, “he’s just petty.”

Legend absently minded, “yeah, whatever, let’s get going. How long is this game?”

It was all downhill from there. It was a six hour game, max.

“Are you done yet?” Wind called, already bored.

Malon laughed, “we just started! Time, it’s your turn.”

Everyone groaned as Time was the first one to lay down his cards. He didn’t even bother to hide his smirk.

“Miracle of miracles!” Sky shouted when his turn came, he drew a card he needed.

“You consider that a miracle?” Legend asked.

Sky shrugged, “tis the season.”

No one else laid down there cards for another few go arounds, except for Malon. Everyone was starting to get antsy as they didn’t want to be last.

“I still don’t understand this game,” Hyrule muttered.

Warriors fidgeted with his scarf, “I don’t think we’re supposed to. The confusion is apart of some kind of torture, isn’t it?”

“This game is hell,” Time nodded, “I still don’t understand it.”

“Yeah, right,” Malon rolled her eyes, “first time you played you beat my father by five points and he has never forgiven you.”

“Wait,” Legend froze, “this game has points?”

Twilight groaned, “did you not listen to my explanation?”

“That explanation was more complicated than all of my adventures combined! What the hell does buying mean in this?”

Twilight decided he was a lost cause. Let Legend suffer, and a happy holidays to him.

After twenty minutes, they somehow finished the first round. Laying out all their cards, they counted. Time had won and Legend was now in last place. Twilight noticed a particular card in his hand that attributed to his loss.

“I don’t you to get rid of this card!” Twilight held up his joker.

Legend scoffed, “no, you didn’t! No one said anything about that.”

“Legend, I am going to murder you.”

“TWILIGHT!” Wild came over, just in time to stop a crime from happening, “eat this.”

He held out some weird bread that had stuff mixed into it. Twilight took it cautiously and looked at it.

“Why?”

“Because,” Wild explained, “I ate it and now my tongue is numb. I feel on fire.”

“What?! What is it?”

“I don’t know. I don’t like it, but I ate a bunch.”

“Why did you eat it if you didn’t like it?” Sky looked at him with concern.

“Bored. Now I am seeing stars and it looks cool, but Twi told me if that ever happened I should seek medical attention.”

Time sighed while Twilight starting biting his pelt in anger, “Four, what are you reading?”

Four looked up from his spot nearby, “a book on medicine.”

“Help Wild so he doesn’t die.”

Four nodded and dragged Wild over, asking him some questions. Twilight threw away the bread and the second round started.

“Can I have that card?” Warriors asked Legend, who looked to Malon.

“Do I have to give it to him? Can I say no out of spite?”

Malon’s eyes glimmered, like she had been waiting for someone to ask that question. She nodded fiercely and Time looked like he regretted that rule coming up.

“F*ck you!” Warriors glared and Legend flipped him off in return.

A little while later, Sky proclaimed “miracle of miracles” once again and being able to lay down his cards first.

“That’s two miracles,” Hyrule counted, “wish I was that lucky.”

“Are you done?”

“No, Wind,” Malon answered, “you’ll probably fall asleep before we finish.”

“What happens if we don’t finish today?” Sky mused.

“Then it’ll be morning,” she smiled, “we don’t stop this game until someone is dead.”

“Someone’s about to be,” Warriors pointed a dagger at Legend.

“If we switch worlds we’ll have to stop,” Legend pointed out hopefully.

Malon shook her head, “tell that Dark Link to hold off on this battle or else he joins the game.”

Another round passed with only a few more groans. Legend shrieked so loud at missing a card that he needed that Hyrule though he went deaf. Four released Wild back into the kitchen, saying that he would be fine.

“So,” Sky started to speak, “how was this game made?”

Malon thought, “my father says he made it, but he might’ve taken it from somewhere else.”

“Never play with Talon,” Time whispered, “he does not take well to losing.”

“Hey, Twi,” Wild was back.

“Wild,” Twilight glanced from his cards to his ward, “please tell me you are not eating more poisonous foods?”

“I think it’s not poisonous,” Wild smiled, “but my mouth is still burning so I ate some cake I had and now I want to die.”

“Why are you smiling?” Wind asked.

“I’ve always wondered what that cake tasted like.”

“Makes sense.”

“No,” Twilight slammed his face into the table, “that does not make sense. Wild, give me the slate. You’re grounded.”

“But-“

“No buts!”

Wild pouted as he handed over his precious device and went to find some milk. The game continued and they made it to the fourth round. They were two and a half hours in and half of them were begging for the sweet release of death.

“This will be the longest round yet,” Legend rubbed his forehead.

Five minutes later...

“This is bullsh*t,” Time said suddenly. Everyone blinked at their leader’s language, but it looked like he meant what he said.

Legend, contrary to his prediction, won the round the first time it hit his turn. He sat there smugly and proudly.

“Out!”

“BRUH!” Warriors chucked his cards into the trash.

“How?” Twilight slammed his fist on the table.

“Well, well, well, Mr. Listen-Class-is-in-Session,” Legend stood up, “need help counting your points?”

“Wait!” Hyrule raised up his hands, “we’re switching!”

“Oh, thank Hylia!” Time kissed his wife goodbye, “we are never playing this again.”

Malon bopped him the nose, “you say that every year, Darling.”

“Finally!” Wind cheered and they were sent out of the snowstorm.

“Miracle of miracles,” Sky was ready to sleep after the game.

Chapter Text

“We need to get to cover,” Wild said out of nowhere. He was swiping through his slate when something alarmed him enough to put to a nearby cave that held a shrine.

“Why?” Twilight asked, “monsters?”

Wild shook his head, “we’re in Faron and the weather just changed suddenly. I’m safe, but I don’t think Time or Warriors want to take their chances getting struck by lightning.”

Warriors’ scared arm ached a little at the thought of another elemental attack. Time didn’t show it, but he was remembering the not very fun time of Jabu Jabu’s belly.

“Come on,” Wild directed them to the cave.

Some of them were confused at the threat of lightning. It wasn’t even raining. They decided it was best to follow Wild’s lead in his hazard he called a country.

Once inside the cave, Wild set up a fire. He dropped some wood from his slate and fired a single fire arrow at it.

“We’ll be here for a while,” he explained, “might be staying the night.”

“Will it seriously last that long?” Twilight sat down.

“At least we had warning. I was once stuck fifty feet over Farosh’s path while it was raining and couldn’t move a muscle for 1 hour. If I did I would’ve been shocked so hard that I drown in the lake below. After that, some lizalfos started swarming below me and I had to wait for 11 hours until it stopped.”

“Cub, why?” He received only a shrug in response.

“Dibs on sleeping in the cool shrine thing!” Wind claimed his spot on the elevator and laid of his bedroll.

Everyone got comfortable and soon fell asleep to the cackling fire. There wasn’t yet a could in the sky when they did so.

Hours later, something woke Sky up. A large boom jolted him from his sleep and he opened his eyes in time to be blinded by another flash of light.

He stood up, alert. That looked like Demise’s magic! Grabbing the Master Sword, he walked to the cave’s mouth and looked for any sign of a threat.

He can do this, he became stoic. He had fought Demise before, he could do it again. He was stronger now, and with back up, nothing could hurt h-

BANG! Another lightning bolt nearly missed Sky, setting a nearby tree ablaze. Sky pointed his sword all around, looking for the source of the magic.

He can do this, he repeated, he can do this. He can do this. He can do this. He can do this. He can do this. He can do this. He can-

The Master Sword started sparkling. Sky’s mind only had a split second to process what was happening. Sadly, he did the wrong thing. Following his instinct, he lifted his sword for a skyward strike.

He can do this.

Something was splattering his face. Water? His hairs tingled and stood up as the lightning arced down.

He can do this. He can do this. He can do this. He can do this. He could do this...

“Sky?” Wild walked out of the cave and spotted him, “Sky!”

He couldn’t do this! He wasn’t ready to face Demise again.

Sky didn’t have time to look at Wild as the lightning struck. Instead of being absorbed by his sword, it moved through it and into Sky. He only felt pain and stars filled his head. He was vaguely aware of Wild running up to him, tossing the Master Sword out of his grip and into the water below.

“F-Fi,” Sky weakly grabbed where it used to be.

“I’ll get it later,” Wild summoned a yellow potion and poured it into his mouth, “stay with me, Sky.”

“Demise...” Sky couldn’t control his mouth anymore, he couldn’t feel his right arm.

“You’re not dying,” Wild misunderstood, “holding a metal weapon during a thunderstorm, what were you thinking?”

Thunderstorm? Was that like the Thunderhead? He never got hurt there unless it was from monsters.

“Lightning is survivable, you don’t have to worry. It’s gonna hurt a lot in the coming days, though. Stay focused, okay?”

Why was water hitting his face? It hurt so much. The water covered his eyes and stung his arm. He couldn’t see, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t-

“Sky? Sky!”

Sky stopped moving completely.

Wild started to panic. He placed his head onto Sky’s chest. There was no pulse.

“No, no, no!” He mumbled. What did the stable owners do to him when this happened?

He place his hands on Sky and started to push. He counted under his breath in his closest approximation of CPR. If he remembered the lessons correctly...

Hylia! He didn’t think anyone else would be as stupid as him to get struck by lightning. He would’ve actually remembered how to do that.

It wasn’t working. Sky wouldn’t move again and his heart wouldn’t start.

Think, think! Wild slapped his head. Zelda must’ve told him something about when a heart stops.

She did some short research on health, a few dealing with cardiac arrest. A few things would work, she said: CPR, potions, or a stronger shock.

“Sorry, Sky,” Wild pulled out his electric spear. Added with the chainmail he wore, if he survived this would scar him forever, but there was no time to remove it.

He hoisted the spear up and jolted it, not actually hitting Sky while still shaking the magic loose. A spark traveled from the spear and shook Sky around.

Wild stood still, breathing heavily. Please, he prayed, wake up.

There was a soft flicker in Sky’s eyes, though they didn’t open completely. Wild took a sigh of relief and felt for Sky’s pulse again. It was back to normal.

“Guys?” He called out to the others, they had to be awake from the loud noises, “help!”

“Wild?” Thank goodness! It was Hyrule and Legend, they didn’t wear a lot of metal.

“Legend, take off your bracelet and rings and then help me!”

Legend was about to ask why, but then caught sight of Sky’s body. He nodded and did as commanded. Him and Hyrule walked over to Wild and helped him carry Sky back into the cave.

Days later, Sky woke up in someone’s bed. He was immediately struck by home much pain he was in and winced. Where was him?

He looked around and noticed a photo of people from different races and a desk. Sitting at the desk was a sleeping Wild. He looked like he had been writing something before passing out. This must’ve been his house.

“W-wild?” He managed to choke out.

Despite how quiet he was, Wild woke up the second he made a sound. He must have been on alert.

“Sky!” Wild ran to him, knocking his chair over, “are you awake? Like actually awake this time?”

“What?” He was confused.

“You’ve been in an out of consciousness,” Wild explained, “but you’ve been more and more active each time. How are you feeling?”

“Where ev’bdy?” Sky slurred, trying to sit up. He couldn’t, so he laid back down with a hiss.

“At the inn. How are you feeling?”

“Dmis, where he?”

“Demise?” Wild raised an eyebrow, “I don’t know who that is. Sky, you were struck by lightning, your mind might be a little confused.”

Sky shook his head, “lihtn mea Dmis.”

He tried to get up again, more fierce than before, and Wild tried to get him to settle down. It was easy on Wild’s part, as he passed out moments later.

Sky woke up the next day, but feeling clearer than he had ever since the accident. Wild was awake this time and was sitting right next to him.

“Morning, Sky,” he smiled.

“This hurts so much,” Sky groaned.

Wild laughed, “you’re actually mentioning your pain this time. You must be back.”

“What happened?” He could barely register anything from the moment except fear.

Wild explained everything. He woke up at six in the morning like he always did and noticed Sky was missing. He walked outside the cave and saw him raising his sword to the heavens. He resuscitated him, dragged him back to the cave, and the next morning he teleported both of them to his house. Sky had been awake three separate times since then, none yet to stick.

“The others arrived two days ago,” Wild finished, “they’ll be happy to know you’re awake. Do you want food?”

Sky nodded weakly. He took some pumpkin soup from Wild and smiled at it.

“I knew it was your favorite,” Wild left him alone and told him he was going to get some supplies from town. Sky was left alone as he ate.

He wanted to sit up to eat, but, as he did, his chest felt like it was on fire. Hesitantly, Sky removed his blankets with his left hand and saw the damage. Someone had removed his chainmail and tunic, and for good reason. He had burns surrounding the entirety of his torso, with his chest having the worst of it. His right arm had branches burned in that trailed all the way down to his hip and probably to his feet.

He had Wild beat at scars now, he laughed weakly. That magic did a number on him. Magic?

He remembered why he was so afraid. The lightning was so similar to that of Demise’s magic, but it had to be different. He couldn’t control it with the Master Sword. If it wasn’t Demise, then who cast it?

Wild returned after ten minutes of Sky pondering. He opened the door and was mumbling to himself.

“It’s gonna rain again? It is not our week,” he noticed Sky sitting up, “oh, you shouldn’t move, Sky.”

Sky looked over the railing at him, “who cast the lightning?”

“Cast it?” Wild chuckled, “what am I supposed to say? Hylia?”

“Hylia!?” Sky straighten up before compressing in pain, “why would she do that?”

Wild looked at him with concerned, “I was joking. It was just normal lightning.”

“What part of that was normal?” He shook with fear. He knew that the Calamity, or whatever Wild called it, caused malice to spread all over his Hyrule, but did that really mean that some form of Demise’s power took hold. Did he unleash his fury randomly in the only way he could now that he was gone?

Wild shrugged, “it mostly only happens in Faron, or Thunder Plateau. It can happen rarely, though, whenever it rains.”

“Rains?”

“Yeah, rain. You know, the stuff that falls from the sky?”

It wasn’t ringing a bell. He sometimes hated that he was the first of all of them, he ended up not knowing some concepts. Four would still never let him forget how he didn’t know what a princess was.

Wild walked upstairs and pointed out the window, “look, it’s raining right now. Perfectly normal. Is your brain still messed up?”

Sky looked out the window and saw water pouring down. It was to a lesser extent than the day when he got struck, but it was still heavy enough that anyone would want to take cover.

At that moment, his fight or flight response kicked in. A slight rumbling in the distance caused him to pull the blankets over him and hide. Goddess, he was acting like a child!

“Sky?” Wild leaned over, “are you okay?”

“N-no,” Sky stuttered out. Why was he like this?

“Do you... do you know what rain is?”

Wild could barely make out the tiny ‘no’. He smiled softly, it was just like him when he first encountered rain. He was probably the only one in the group who wouldn’t make fun of Sky for not knowing rain.

“Zelda says that when water evaporates,” he sat on the bed and started explaining, “it goes into the air and forms clouds. When the clouds get so much water, rain happens. Water falls out of the clouds and something lightning forms, but I don’t know how that happens.”

“Wild, I lived *above* the clouds my whole life,” Sky bit before making himself smaller, “s-sorry.”

“It’s alright. You have nothing to fear, this rain can’t hurt you.”

“Didn’t,” Sky lowered the blankets a little bit, “didn’t Wind say that water falling from the sky was how his Hyrule was flooded.”

Wild frowned, “that’s different. It rains a lot in my Hyrule, but we are no longer in danger of flooding. Sky, please, just look outside.”

With some muffled agreement, Sky came out from hiding and looked out the window. Through the glass, he could hear the patter of raindrops hitting the roof and he could see children playing in the mud.

“Should they be out there?” He asked, “isn’t it dangerous?”

“Not if they’ve taken precautions,” Wild pointed at Sky’s scars, “they aren’t wearing any metal. Which means, no more pointing a sword directly into a lightning bolt.”

More thunder was heard and Sky’s head never moved so fast.

“It’s okay!” Wild said quickly before calming down, “it’s okay, the thunder is too far to hurt anyone. You know, there’s this game Cottla taught me to figure out if it’s safe. You wanna hear it?”

He received no response, but he continued anyway.

“After you hear some thunder, you count until the next strike. That’s how far away the lightning is. You wanna try? One, two, three...”

“Four, five,” Sky joined along.

They made it up to thirty-five before having to stop.

“See, it’s safe!”

“Is this accurate?” Sky didn’t really believe in a child’s game.

Wild grinned, “who knows. There’s another version where you go from the flash to the thunder, but Cottla live in Kakariko and you can’t actually see any of the lightning strikes there. Regardless, I know it’s safe.”

He showed him his Sheikah Slate, pointing to the weather prediction. There was only rain planned, no lightning.

More thunder. Even though he knew he was fine, Sky couldn’t help but be afraid. Wild noticed his distressed and came up with a plan.

“I’m gonna go play with those kids,” he decided, “and when you see that I won’t die, you’ll know it’s safe.”

“Wait, Wild!” Sky called off him, but it was too late. Wild vaulted over his railing and ran out of the building.

Sky looked out the window in time to see Wild talking to the kids. They started a game of tag, slipping and sliding through the mud. The kids shrieked as Wild splashed them and would hide in trees. Their parents would not be happy.

Sky felt himself smile. This kids and Wild held no fear, maybe the rain wasn’t so bad after all.

He couldn’t wait to one day be out there himself.

Chapter Text

“Hey, Wind?” Hyrule one day called to the sailor, “how do you control the wind?”

He smiled, “with my Wind Waker! It was given to me by the King and blessed by the gods of wind of my time.”

“But how can you use it?” Hyrule was curious. Magic was a rare ability that very few could master. Even having a conduit wasn’t enough for some people.

“Uhhh,” Wind glanced left and right, “I was blessed, too?”

“Didn’t you say you didn’t claim the Hero’s Spirit until after getting the Triforce of Courage?” Warriors joined the conversation, “you wouldn’t have any divine blessings before then.”

“Uhhhhh,” Wind’s eyes bulged, “I was already blessed before I started my journey!”

“How?”

“Blessed with awesomeness!” Wind proclaimed proudly.

Warriors snorted, ignoring Wind’s cries of “hey!” and ruffled his hair.

“But seriously,” he said, “how? I’ve seen only one other wield the Wind Waker, and that was her Highness Princess Zelda. She has the blood of a goddess, what’s your excuse?”

“UhhhhhHHHHH!” Wind’s mumbles turned into screams and he stood their motionless for a minute.

Warriors and Hyrule looked at each other, not understanding what was going on. Hyrule poked Wind in the shoulder, yet he still screamed like a deer on the wrong end of a bow and arrow.

“We broke him!” Hyrule realized.

“Wind, You okay?” Warriors almost wanted to laugh.

Finally, Wind stopped screaming. Sadly, it was so that he could take a breath and continue.

“No, you don’t, Sailor!” Warriors clamped his hand over Wind’s mouth.

“Wri, u stp ti nw!” Wind tried to pull his arm away.

“I’ll stop if you promise to stop screaming.”

Pouting, Wind nodded and took a deep breath of fresh hair once freed. He glared at the two.

“Why does it matter?” He asked, “Hyrule, you literally have a weapon call the Magic Sword. Why is it so weird that I can use the Wind Waker?”

“I have a reason,” Hyrule explained away.

“What is it?”

“You go first.”

Wind grumbled some swears that were connected to some other mentions of his father. Warriors raised an eyebrow and asked him to repeat what he said.

“My dad’s,” Wind clenched his fists around his tunic’s flaps, “my dad is a god...”

Crickets.

“Oh,” Warriors was not expecting that.

“That would explain it,” Hyrule nodded awkwardly, “...who is he?”

“Oshus,” he admitted sadly, “he’s not that well known. He’s the god of the ocean and dreams.”

“Why so down?” Warriors asked, “have you never met your dad?”

“No, no!” Wind smiled for a split second, “he’s really nice, but I only got to meet him a couple of times when he needed my help. He didn’t even tell me who he was until we were saying goodbye. It’s not that, though. I’m worried...”

“About what?” Hyrule urged, “will he be mad that we found out?”

Wind covered his face with his hands, “please don’t tell anyone else. I know how they’ll react. They won’t like it, won’t like me anymore.”

“Nonsense,” Warriors hugged the sailor, “all of us don’t care about parentage. Hell, half of us don’t have any parentage to speak of.”

“You don’t understand,” Wind sniffled, “Legend and Time, I know how much they- I already know Legend hates my dad- Time, he, he wouldn’t like that I became a Hero because of my dad. They would hate me- and- and-“

Wind burst into tears and hid in Warriors’ scarf. Any attempt to calm him down resulted in him shaking furiously and mumbling “no” over and over.

“And Sky,” he started to list everyone, “he cares so much about the gods, he would think I was too bad of a person to be one of their son. Four would blame me for all of our problems, since I can’t fix them! Wild would hate me for having even more family alive than him and Twilight would agree. And- and you guys-“

He fell on the ground sobbing, refusing to speak anymore.

Hyrule stood there while Warriors crouched down, unsure of what to do. He thought the problem over in his head. Wind thought him being a demigod would affect how they saw him, but in reality it really wouldn’t. How could he prove that, though?

He could...no. That wasn’t the same thing. Or was it? It was similar, that was sure. It could also backfire...

“Wind, do you want to know why I can use magic?” He made up his mind, “you see, I’m not...exactly...mortal either.”

“What?” Warriors paused his comforting to look up at him in confusion, “since when?”

Hyrule hushed him before continuing, “my dad, I never met him, but I know that he was a traveler like me. He was injured one day and ran into a cave where he met mom. She healed him and they eventually had me. My mom is a Great Fairy.”

Wind looked up, tears stopping for a moment, “really?”

“Really?” Warriors prayed to Oshus that Hyrule’s Great Fairies were not like his or Wild’s.

“Yes, really!” Hyrule sat on the ground, “she taught me magic at a young age before sending me off. She used to be a guardian fairy, so I am one, too, technically. I was meant to be on my own or find someone to protect.”

He laughed, “I don’t think she envisioned me protecting the whole country.”

“Do you see her anymore?” Wind whimpered.

Hyrule shrugged, “sometimes. I’ve started hanging out in the castle more and I don’t have any reason to be in the mountains, so it’s been a while. I know she’s there, though, and she knows I’m safe.”

Wind looked back down. He seemed a little bit better, but not all the way.

“Hey, listen,” Hyrule placed his hand on his shoulder, “if anyone else hates you for your dad, then I will be right there protecting you.”

“Promise?” Wind asked meekly.

“Promise.”

Wind slowly stood up and so did Hyrule and Warriors. He barreled Hyrule with a hug.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“Do you still want to keep it a secret,” Warriors started, “or do you want the others to know?”

“They- I’ll tell them,” Wind decided, “it’s going to come out sooner or later if I don’t.”

“We’ll be with you,” Warriors offered his hand, which Wind took.

“So,” Hyrule made conversation as they went to find the others, “can you do anything else with your demigod-hood?”

Wind thought, “I think, but I haven’t tried that much. I lucid dream all the time and I’m great at sailing, I know that. I might be able to shape-shift, though I don’t think I should try.”

“Why?”

“My dad turns into a whale,” he answered bluntly with a laugh, “imagine me turning into a whale in the middle of the forest. What about you?”

Hyrule rubbed the back of his neck, “I can do a lot more than I’ve shown off. To be honest, this isn’t my real form.”

“What?” Warriors looked him up and down, “what do you mean?”

“Fairies all look basically the same,” Hyrule explained, “the reason Great Fairies resemble people more is because they have more magic to change their appearance, but they are still tiny fairies in actuality. So, since I am half Great Fairy... please tell me I don’t have to spell it out!”

Wind grinned, “can we see your true form? Please!”

Hyrule sighed, “later. Switching back and forth takes a lot out of me.”

“Aw...”

Once they made it to where everyone else was, Hyrule cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention.

“What?” Legend woke up from his nap. A grumpy start that did not bode well for Wind.

“Me and Wind have something to say,” he looked to the sailor, “do you want me to go first?”

Wind nodded, “please.”

Hyrule swallowed harshly and avoided looking at Time, who was sharpening his sword. His mother told him about her old friend, the Hero of Time.

“I haven’t been honest about my race,” he started, “I am only half Hylian. My mother is the Great Fairy Navi.”

An immediate chorus of “what,” “who,” and “how” rang out. Legend narrowed his eyes and looked slightly betrayed that he didn’t know this about his best friend. Time walked up to Hyrule with a strong stride.

“S-sorry for not saying anything before,” he stuttered out, raising his arms in defense. He could sense Wind was ready to run, with only Warriors stopping him for doing so.

“Navi, you say?” Since when was his voice this deep? Since when was he so tall?

“Y-yes,” Hyrule tried to smile, but it came out as more of a grimace, “mum told me some about the Hero of Time. She said she regretted leaving you.”

Time’s body relaxed and he smiled bittersweetly, “in your time, it was more that I left her. Please let her know that I still wish the best for her.”

He sighed, “of course. Mum misses you everyday. She won’t admit it, but I think I’m named after you.”

Time nodded his head and went back to sharpening his sword. Wind spoke softly so that only the two closest to him could hear.

“That worked?” He asked, “I thought Time was going to murder you!”

“I agree,” Warriors added, “but this just proves that you have nothing to fear, Wind.”

“Alright,” Wind stepped forward and addressed everyone, who were still chatting about Hyrule’s heritage, “I also have something to say. I’m only half Hylian, too. My other half, being my dad, is- he- my dad-“

He started to repeat words and fidget. Everyone looked at him, wondering what was going on.

“Wind, it’ll all be okay,” Hyrule assured him.

He nodded, “I know. Sorry, guys, my dad is- he’s a god...his name is Oshus.”

There was a loud clang. Legend had dropped his bag onto his sword and froze. The entire group was silent. As much as Hyrule wished it was in that circumstance, a fairy was not the equivalent to a god and nothing could have prepared them for this news.

“Oshus?” Legend put space between each word, “the Wind Fish?”

“...yes,” Wind looked down, “I know you met him. I’m sorry.”

“Met him?!” Legend shouted before calming down slightly, “met is a weak word for our interactions.”

Wind’s eyes started to water, “do you hate me now?”

“What?” Legend snapped out of his angry thoughts, “no, why would I hate you?”

“Because- because my dad,” Wind choked, “he told me what he made you do and-“

“Stop right there,” Legend raised a finger, “I hate your dad more than I hate Ganon, but, based on my own mother, I have to believe that our parents don’t equal their children. I would never hate you because of Oshus, Wind.”

“R-really,” Wind perked up, “you mean it? What about all of you? I kept this hidden.”

Four waved away the thought, “we all have our secrets. This is just a fun fact that we never knew about you.”

“Thank you!” Wind was back to happy self.

“Can we roll back the conversation real quick,” Wild raised his hand, “Legend, who’s your mother?”

“None of your business,” Legend snapped, “who’s yours?”

Wild lowered his hand, “I don’t know.”

“Oh,” Legend forgot who he was talking to, “sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Wild grinned, “I’ll forgive you if you answer my question.”

“This is extortion!”

“This is for making fun of an amnesiac!”

Legend huffed, “fine, my mother’s...”

Everyone leaned in. He groaned and fought with himself internally, like he didn’t want it to be true. Hesitantly, he finally got it out.

“Hylia,” he sneered, “my mother is Hylia.”

“Wait,” Wind’s eyes widened, “you’re also a demigod? I’m not alone!”

Wind ran over and hugged him. Legend tried to push him away, but he was stopped by all of the questions and looks from the others.

“You,” Twilight started, “the most advent hater of Hylia, you are her son?”

“You would understand if you met her,” Legend finally managed to get Wind off of him. “And before any of you ask, no I don’t have any godly powers. I’m just really good at magic and have to do everything for the other gods now.”

“Great,” Wild tossed his arms in the air, “anyone else got weird parents they what to share?”

Twilight coughed awkwardly.

Wild glared, “no.”

“My father isn’t a full god-“

“Twi, I swear. You say my world is crazy?”

Twilight smacked his ward and finished his sentence, “my father is Ordona, the light spirit that resides in my province.”

“How come no one mentioned any of this beforehand?” Wild complained, “I think god powers would come in handy!”

“I was scared you would hate me,” Wind admitted.

Hyrule agreed, “I didn’t know how Time would react.”

“You know my feelings on Hylia,” Legend crossed his arms.

“I have a lot of secrets,” Twilight smirked, “how does it feel to be on the receiving end of this, Cub?”

“I hate you all,” Wild shouted, “raise your hands if you have godly parentage!”

Wind grabbed Twilight’s pelt and shrieked into it when everyone raised their hands. Along with the already discovered demi-Hylians of Wind, Hyrule, Legend, and Twilight, Time, Warriors, Sky, and Four joined in.

“How!?” He shook his fist to the sky, “are the gods allowed to do this?”

Sky tilted his head, “I assume? Who’s to stop them?”

“Then why,” he looked like he was about to go on a rant, “did no god answer my Zelda when she was calling on them. Meanwhile they seem to have a lot of time on their hands to make you guys!”

“Cub,” Twilight laughed, “calm down.”

“Never!” Contrary to what he shouted, Wild sat down on the ground and pouted.

“Alright,” Hyrule smiled, “do you guys want to join the sharing circle?”

Four stepped forward, “it’s a long story.”

-

“Oh my Triforce,” Farore cradled Green and refused to let him go, “how did you get cuter, Link?”

“Mom!” Green tried to push away, “this is serious!”

“Farore,” Nayru snapped, “the Four Sword as been pulled out of it’s pedestal, this is no time to mess around.”

“Fine,” she let go of her son who bolted to his...brothers?

What used to be one boy named Link was now four identical boys, sans the same color. They already agreed that they would be called Green, Red, Blue, and Vio to avoid confusion. After a shadow taunted them, they decided it was best to run home for help.

What better help was there than literal gods after all. Literal gods who were also their parents.

“This is odd,” Nayru looked at them, “the Four Sword is meant to split you evenly, not with different personalities.”

“Is it broken?” Din took Red’s sword and inspected it.

“It’s not, Mother,” Vio explained, “I’ve already checked.”

“Hmph,” she handed back the sword, “and Vaati was released? It seems you are back on the job.”

“Do we have to?” Red frowned, “we only pulled the sword because the shadow forced us to.”

“Sorry, sweetie,” Din kissed his forehead, “but I know you can do it.”

“Thanks, mummy,” Red beamed.

“They each call us different things,” Farore squealed, “it’s just like like when Link was a kid!”

She ran over to Green and started hugging him once more.

“Mom! There are four of me now, hug someone else.”

“Farore!” Nayru sighed, “again, this is not the time.”

“Same old, same old,” Blue hefted his sword, “should be simple a job. Vaati was a pushover last time.”

Nayru raised an eyebrow, “I hope you are not going into battle with that mindset. Remember the pirates that caused you to break your arm?”

“That technically wasn’t me,” Blue pointed out, “that was all four of us.”

“But it was your recklessness,” she rebuked, “promise you will think out a strategy before going into battle. Blue?”

“Yes, momma,” he grumbled.

“Good.”

“Let’s get going,” Green waves his brothers out the door, avoiding one last hug from Farore.

“Red, dear,” Din called after him, “even if you are Link’s emotions, you can still be tough in battle.”

“I know, mummy,” Red raised a thumbs-up, “I’ll do my best.”

With that, the Golden Goddesses gave them parting gifts to help them on their quests. They promised that they would do everything in their power to help them track down Vaati and the Maidens that were kidnapped.

“Be good, Vio,” Nayru was the one to say goodbye to him as they left the house, “I sense a rocky path up ahead and you will need to choose wisely which direction you will go.”

Vio nodded nervously, “of course, Mother.”

-

“I have three other brothers at home,” Four lied, pushing the flashback to the back of his mind, “we’re quadruplets and we were all raised by the goddesses Farore, Din, and Nayru. We knew one of them was our actual mother, but they never told us which one. So, they were all our mothers.”

“You were raised by the Golden Goddesses?” Sky fell out of his chair, “all three of them!?”

“Uh, yeah,” Four was happy that no one caught his lie.

“You’re my uncle!” Legend shrieked, “what the f*ck?”

“You just lived with three gods in your house at all times?” Wild’s mind broke for a second time in his life, “why?”

Four shrugged, “I don’t know. All I know is that they picked favorites and...well, three gods to four brothers doesn’t add up. We had a falling out recently, so I don’t like to talk about it much.”

“We understand,” Sky nodded.

“I don’t,” Wild whispered, but he wasn’t going to push it.

“I guess I’m next,” Sky smiled, “I never met my parents, but I was told by Zelda that my father was a great immortal hero that fought along side her in the war.”

“And who would that be?” Time’s right eye started to hurt.

“She said I was named after him, so his name was Link, too,” Sky explained, “she called him the Fierce Deity. He was apparently the Demon Lord Ghirahim’s foil and acted as her general.”

He continued to list off facts that he had heard about his father, passingly mentioning that no one had seen him since Sky’s mother passed away. Time’s red flag alarms were ringing and he touched the right side if his face.

“Time?” Sky asked, “are you alright?”

“Do you know what he looked like?” Time asked.

Sky shook his head, “no, but I’ve seen his sword in some paintings. He had two, one was an early version of Fi and the other was a strange sword made of two twisting blades.”

“Time?” Twilight looked concerned.

“I think I know what happened to your father, Sky.”

Sky stood up, “you do? How?!”

“There’s a legend from a land far from mine,” he began, “of a warrior who was left behind after a war. While the people were safe, there were still demons to fight. The warrior fought for years upon years, but there was something holding him back.”

His hand twitched and he could hearing cackling in his ears, “a creature that was created out of nothing but chaos and destruction was the source of the evil now that the war was over. The warrior went to face it, to maybe one day let the world know peace.

“The warrior and the creature fought for three days nonstop. Each time he thought he had won, the creature would one upped him.

“While fighting, the battle caused such destruction that it split the land into another country. The warrior realized he could use this to his advantage and created a bubble around the country, so that, if he lost, he could contain the fallout.

“On the dawn of the final day, the creature had a plan. It could not beat the warrior, so it sealed him away in a mask, and the warrior did so in return.”

Time finished, “that’s the legend of the Fierce Deity.“

“Where did you hear that?” Sky frowned, “there’s no other country except Hyrule.”

Time closed his eyes, “the land of Termina is a strange place. Would you like to see the mask?”

“You’re willing to show it to him?” Warriors spoke up in the first time in a while, “you never let me touch it when you were a kid.”

“This is his father,” Time glared, “Sky?”

He nodded numbly, “please.”

Delicately, Time reached into his bag and pulled out the Fierce Deity mask. He handed it over to Sky, who looked at it with a mix of awe and loneliness.

“This was him?” He looked at the markings on the mask, “why do you have the same markings?”

“They’re punishment,” Time hung his head in shame, “for using the mask. At first, your father aided me in killing my enemy, which was the creature he sealed away, but he soon saw me as a threat. These marks are a warning that if I were to use the mask again, I would be killed.”

“Why?” Sky hugged the mask.

“Because, my father was the creature that your father fought,” Time said, “my father was the demon named Majora.”

A day of bombshells it was. At first, as few of them thought he was joking, but Time showed no humor when he shared that information. Time was ashamed of his father, and he apparently was the one to finally kill him.

“Majora,” Wild thought aloud, “as in Majora’s Mask? You told me that it was just a story! That was your father?”

“I believe we have all told stories and lies,” Time gestured to everyone, “and he was nothing but what created me and I am nothing but what destroyed him. My real father is someone much closer to me than the demon ever would be.”

Sky tried to hand him back the mask, “is there anything we can do to free him?”

He shook his head, “I am not sure, and it’s too dangerous for me to ask. Keep it, but I would not advise ever wearing it.”

Sky nodded, “thank you. When I return to Skyloft, I will ask Zelda. Maybe she has a way...”

“So,” Twilight was hesitant to ask, “do you have any powers from your f- Majora?”

“I’ve worked hard to hide anything of my relation, and, if we are lucky, you will never see what I’ve inherited.”

Once everyone quieted down, they all look to Warriors.

“What?” He asked, noticing the looks.

“You raised your hand,” Wild pointed out, “and I am about to go insane, so please just say who your parent is.”

“You don’t need to know,” Warriors smiled, “minor god, nothing of importance.”

“Calling bull right now!” Legend snarked, “if you were the son of the god of spears and nothing else you’d be bragging. I’m betting it’s something you’re embarrassed by.”

“Legend,” Warriors warned him not to push.

“The old man’s already admitted to quite literally being a demon’s spawn,” he continued, “highly doubt you could top that, so just say it.”

“Legend, I am serious,” Warriors’ happy expression dropped, “my family is my business.”

“Is it another demon? An evil god?” Legend walked up to him, “we’ve all spilt our secrets. C’mon!”

“You didn’t want to share about Hylia,” Warriors shoved him, “and I don’t want to share about my father.”

“So, it’s your father?” Legend grinned at getting some information, “that narrows it down a bit.”

“Congrats,” he remarked, “it was a fifty-fifty split on which one of my parents were a god-“

He stopped himself from speaking too late. He had given away that his dad was a god, and one that he didn’t like to talk about.

“So,” Legend started counting on his fingers, “there’s quite a few ocean and wind gods, all of which are male. Are you the son of one of Wind’s wind gods?”

“No.”

“Legend, leave him alone,” Time spoke up, but it did nothing to stop him.

“Nayru is male in my time, but I don’t think it’d be him.”

“Nayru’s a male in your timeline?”

“Don’t question it. Are you somehow related to one of us?”

“Who knows, honestly, but I don’t think that would make us that godly.”

“What about a dragon, there’s a couple of those flying around. Wild, do they count as gods?”

Wild looked at his slate and shook his head, “it just says they’re guardians.”

“My dragons are deities,” Sky imputed.

“Me, too!” Wind agreed, “Warriors, please, we won’t judge you. Didn’t you say that about me when I was worried?”

“I do know a giant fish god that the Zora worshipped,” Legend remembered, “he ate me and I will slap you if that’s your father.”

“I thought you didn’t judge based off family?” Warriors backed away.

“I don’t, but he really didn’t need to eat me. That’s all the male gods I know. Suggestions from the peanut gallery?”

“Warriors,” Wind tugged at his scarf, “it’s okay.”

Warriors sighed and placed his hand of Wind’s head, “fine, but what I say is never mentioned or brought up at any point again. And it is never, ever told to anyone else. Got it?”

Everyone nodded with a few murmurs mixed in.

“You know my story,” he began, “the Guardian of Time was corrupted and her malice was directed towards me, but that was all planned by Ganondorf. He drew her attention to me because of who my father was, knowing that I would have the power to free him once more.

“It’s complicated, but my father was not from my current time period. I was brought to my time by one of the portals when I was a child by a future version of Cia. I didn’t know of my origins until a met a past version of her years later.

“My father...my father was Demise.”

Silence.

Everyone immediately looked to Sky, as he was the only one to ever fight the god, though he told them all the story of the curse. This was definitely not his day. First he learnt that his father was trapped in a mask and would kill a friend of his for being the son of his destroyer, and now this.

“Demise had a child?” He started to breathe heavily, “wh-ho-why?!”

“I don’t know!” Warriors snapped before becoming far less animated, “I clearly never met him, only his hatred form of Ganondorf. I was only told by Cia after some of my comrades went to the Era of the Skies.”

“I’m s-“ Sky stopped himself, “I am going to be honest, I am not sorry I killed Demise.”

“You don’t have to be,” Warriors clenched his sword, “if I could, I would be right there along side you. The worst part is, I use his powers every day. All the monsters I kill in one blow are from his destructive powers. My strength with weapons are from him being the one to create them. My courage is nothing when compared to my recklessness driven by power.”

He sat down, tossing his sword away, “that’s why I’ve told no one. I would be seen as a double agent immediately, all achievements I’ve worked for would be corrupted. My dad isn’t some ocean god, he’s the cause of all of our problems.

“I see it in your eyes,” he chuckled, “you’re afraid of me now. Might as well get this over with, I’ll leave right now and go back to my time. After all, who would want Demise’s son when you are fighting his army!”

“Warriors...” Sky reached out, “it doesn’t matter who your father was. He’s gone and will never come back.”

“What if I told he could,” Warriors put on a fake smile, “how does Ganon keep coming back again and again? It’s his soul still holding on. Well, what do you think is inside of me?”

“An ego?” Legend suggested before Hyrule slapped him.

“Not the time,” he whispered in one of his rare cases of anger.

“A part of Demise is inside of me,” Warriors ignored them, “with that he could be brought back. Why else would gods have children? We’re nothing but contingency plans for when things go wrong for them.”

“That’s not true for all of us,” Four got defensive, “my moms love u- me. And we don’t have the souls of our parents inside of us, that’s not how this works.”

“There’s a myth,” he pointed out, “that says gods live as long as someone knows of them. In my time, I am the last living being that knows of Demise, so he still exists in me.”

“That’s stupid,” Legend drawled, “Time killed his father, do you see him still hopping around.”

Wild didn’t want to mention the fact that the mask still held a little power. Time’s eye started to hurt again.

“It’d be better if you just...” his eyes sparked up, he walked over to Sky and handed him his sword after picking it up the ground.

“Warriors?” Sky held the sword awkwardly, “what are you doing?”

Warriors said nothing until he finished preparing whatever he was doing. He sat down the Fierce Deity mask on the ground and then made sure Sky was holding the blade tight. He then moved the tip of the blade to rest on his chest. He could feel a stab whenever he breathed, so he knew it was close enough. .

“Warriors?” Sky tried to remove the sword, but Warriors held firm with his hand.

“Do it,” he growled through gritted teeth, “kill me.”

Everyone jumped to their feet at his words and were at attention. Wind’s face looked like he was being tortured.

“What, no!” Sky refused.

“War,” Wind whined, “why are you saying this?”

“If you kill me,” Warriors said way too calmly for a man in his situation, “then the last link to Demise is destroyed.”

“There’s still Ganon,” Hyrule shouted, “this would do nothing!”

“Ganondorf is nothing compared to a god, no matter how much he wishes he was,” he inched the blade somehow even closer, “kill me. You’ve killed my father twice, so you can kill me.”

“You’re not your father!” Sky tried to pull the blade away, but all he managed to do was dig it into Warrior’s gloves. If he moved anymore, blood would be spilt.

“But I could become him!” Warriors shouted back, “you haven’t seen it, but I have! Dark magic can change anyone to pure evil. Cia used to be a good person, she was purer than all of us, and now? Now she is dead! Kill me!”

“No!”

Sky pleaded for anyone to help, anyone at all. None of the Links moved, they were too scared to cause even more damage.

“Warriors, we can talk this out,” he tried to smile, “there are so many other options.”

“That just delay the inevitable,” Warriors showed no emotion on his face, “I live in a constant state of time travel. Demise’s return will always be a day away for me, and so is my death. Please.”

His eyes were the only thing that gave away his fear. They watered and looked around at everything. He was both afraid to do this and of what would happen if he didn’t. He looked truly pitiful in that moment.

Then, a miracle! Lightning struck. Literally. Out of nowhere in the clear blue sky, a bolt of lightning hit Warriors in the back, causing him to fall. Sky hissed as the lightning traveled down the sword and burnt his hands.

“What was that?” Sky winced and he saw Time standing up, one hand raised to sky.

“Time?” Twilight gasped.

“Why didn’t I think of that?!” Wild complained, he had access to lightning, too, though for different reasons.

“It doesn’t matter,” Time ran towards the collapsed form of Warriors, “it was that or bullets.”

He flipped Warriors over, seeing his breath, while uneasy, was not that bad. His tunic sizzled at where the blade was touching him at the moment on impact.

Warriors coughed, eyes barely opened, “T-time?”

“I can do a lot worse and lot more painful,” Time glared at him, “I know exactly how far it takes to kill a man with these powers and I will make sure I go right up to that limit to stop you.”

“Why?” Warriors slurred his words, “Demise-“

“Demise nothing!” Sky crouched down, “as the only one to meet him, I can safely say you are not him. And I have proof...”

“If this is some mushy talk about friendship I will stab me myself.”

Sky disappeared from his line of sight before returning. Warriors felt something heavy being placed on his chest.

“What?” He tried to move his head to see what it was, but he couldn’t.

“I just placed the Master Sword on you,” Sky smiled, “if you had any darkness or weakness in you, you wouldn’t be able to touch it. Fi would burn you worse than Wild’s scars right now.”

“Oh,” he said simply, “the Master Sword...”

“Not only that,” Twilight walked over, “the Master Sword purifies darkness. So any darkness surrounding you would be destroyed. There’s no way you could be anything but 100 percent light holding this blade.”

“I’m not- I’m not him...” Warriors smiled weakly before closing his eyes, “I’m going to pass out now.”

And thus he did. Sky sighed in relief and looked to Time.

“Time,” he begged, “go easier next time.”

“There won’t be a next time,” Time picked up Warriors body and carried it to a more comfy place to rest.

“Soo,” Wild leaned over to Twilight, “am I actually the only mortal here?”

Twilight stared at him with disbelief, “is that the only thing that you took away from this?”

“What,” Wild squinted, “am I supposed to ignore that I am surrounded by literal deities while my Hyrule has two, max?”

“Another time, Cub.”

“I’m serious!”

-

Weeks later…

Warriors was in far better shape and actually embraced that what he did with his powers would anger his father. He showed off more of what he could do, killings hundreds of monsters with a snap of his finger, and did it with glee knowing it was done for good.

Everyone else started to reveal what they could really do and battles were ten times easier.

Wind learned how to shape-shift into a seagull and was their scout. Hyrule used his fairy form to sneak around with Wind and help with healing. Legend was no different, but he was most likely still hiding things.

Twilight made the announcement that he was Wolfie and that he was able to do that thanks to his blood flowing with light magic that absorbed Twili magic. He was also able to purify any corrupted monsters they came across. Time never used his powers, but he fought more fiercely.

Four showed off his extra-sensitive eyesight and hearing to show them where magic spots were. He found fairies easily and extra light magic that Twilight could use to restock his energy. Sky could be seen looking at his father’s mask, though he too fought fiercely.

And that left Wild, a mortal among demigods. Or so they thought.

A few weeks after arriving in Wild’s Hyrule, he walked into their inn room and made an announcement.

“I asked Zelda,” his face went red with embarrassment, “and it turns out that I am not mortal. She didn’t tell me because she didn’t think I could forget that.”

Twilight smirked, “knew it. Who’s your parent?”

He muffled his words in his hood.

“What was that?”

“Malanya and Satori,” he hid his face.

“Who are they, Cub?” Twilight was getting annoyed.

“The god of horses and the god of the wild,” he answered before running away.

The room exploded.

“WAIT!” Legend ran after him, “YOU’RE AN ACTUAL GOD?!”

“What the actual hell,” Warriors commented, “who gave that gremlin that much power?”

“Does he even know how to use them?” Time asked.

“No, no he does not,” Twilight knew that much from watching him.

Faintly, they heard Wild screaming, “how was I supposed to know falling off a mountain and not dying was special!”

Twilight decided to call it for the night.

Chapter Text

“Where am I?” Vio wobbled on the sandy terrain. It was hot, like Death Mountain, making it feel a little like home. One moment he was looking for the source of influx of monsters with his brothers, then he was in the middle of a desert.

The wind started to pick up. Blinking the sand out of his eyes, Vio put his hood up and started walking to a crevasse in the mountain. He needed to find protection.

No matter how far he traveled, there was still sand. He fell a couple of times, but the the ground was becoming more and more solid, so he moved forward. He took note of the strange frog statues that littered the area.

“Offerings?” He glanced at a bowl at the feet of a frog, it was filled with bananas, “some religion?”

Finally, he made it to solid ground. After crawling over a small rock, he could breathe clean air. He sighed.

Then he was attacked.

Three archers popped out from behind the frogs and fired. Vio dodged, missing five out of six arrows? He wanted to question how so many arrows were possible, but the one in his shoulder demanded attention.

The archers vanished, allowing Vio to take quick precautions. He couldn’t remove the arrow, that would cause too much damage, so the only thing to do was kill the enemies to assess the injury more later. Pulling out his own bow, he waiting for them to reappear.

One...two...GOTCH YA!

Vio hit one in the abdomen. They vanished and never returned to the fighting. It wasn’t enough to kill them, so they must have fled.

“JERRY!” Their friend shouted before getting angry, “you’ll pay for his medical bills with your life!”

The archer swapped their weapon for a sharp and bloodied blade. With a war cry, they ran right at Vio giving him no time to defend himself. He swiped Vio’s legs from under him, causing a nasty gash across both legs.

“Ugh!” Vio collapsed, though refused to die. Grabbing his sword, he weakly pointed it at the last archer. He was shot a final time in his other shoulder, removing any last strength he had.

“Still alive, eh?” The blade wielder kicked his body. It took everything in him to not pathetically whimper. “Surprised.”

“What’s that?” The archer walked over and pointed to the back of his left hand. “Looks like we got a Hero here! He finally woke up.”

Vio swore, the mark of the triforce that he got for being a Hero along with his brothers glowed whenever he was injured. It was a failsafe, a way to keep him alive in times of need, but now it seems it might be his death.

“Let’s bring him to Master Kohga, he’ll be so pleased with us! Let’s drag him, the cursed goddess wouldn’t let her Hero die from being dragged across the floor.”

Vio would beg to differ as he passed out from the pain of the two arrow wounds.

A little while later, Vio awoke to darkness. He felt tired and thirsty from the dry air. He also smelled bananas, perhaps it was the sack that was covering his head. The ropes that tied him down were also unpleasant.

“Aw, Hero,” he heard a voice mumbled, “no, no, that’s not it. Hero, surprise to see me? Is that too melodramatic?”

“Nah, boss!” Another voice assured him, “it’s just perfect.”

“What about-“

“If you are seriously practicing your monologue in front of your kidnapped person,” Vio spoke up, “then you might want to make sure they’re passed out.”

“I told you the bag had to be taken off,” a third voice snarled.

“I wanted to be dramatic!” The first voice claimed. With some grumbling, the sack was pull off of Vio’s head and his eyesight adjusted to the low light of flickering torches.

Vio took note of his kidnappers. There were a couple, maybe five or six, in the room and they looked alike. They had masks and wore red. The one who stood in front of him had some weird hat and, no other to put it, was fat.

“Well, Hero,” the weird hat guy gloated, “we have finally captured you! Now, I want you to say the name of your capture, to admit your defeat.”

Vio narrowed his eyes, “I have no idea who you are. Who any of you are, really.”

“W-what!” He sputtered, “you do not know I: the great and terrible Master Kohga!? Or the infamous Yiga clan, your fated rivals.”

“My fated rival is a glorified bat,” Vio told him, “I think you have the wrong guy.”

“Just like the Hero to try and trick us,” Kohga pointed accusingly, “are you not Link, the so called Champion of Hyrule? You bare the mark of the Hylians’ precious triforce, so you must be him.”

“My name is Vio,” he lied, or half lied since that was technically the truth, “and I am no champion.”

“Vio?” Kohga backed up, “what were you doing near our hideout? Only the Hero would be here to defeat his enemies!”

“I hope you know there’s a desert on your front porch,” he painfully nodded his head to the side, “I was looking for shelter.”

“I told you he wasn’t the Hero!”

“Can it, Nancy,” Kohga huffed, “then who are you?”

“You first. You shot a stranger, so it’s only fair. Who are the Yiga?”

“Fine.” Really? This guy must like monologuing to be explaining it to him, no questions asked. “The Yiga are an honorable clan…”

“The best!” A Yiga member agreed, “better than the mutts who call themselves Sheikah.”

“…we are pursuing an honorable goal, one that will surely reward all who follow it…”

“ALL HAIL!” That was Nancy, if Vio was following correctly.

“…we will resurrect Lord Ganon!” Kohga finished, smiling underneath his mask, “frightened, or does it excite you as much as us? The return of the Demon King!”

Oh, sh*t, Vio’s eyes widened, not again.

“He can’t even speak,” a Yiga cackled.

Couldn’t speak? He wanted to cut out his tongue before he cursed the gods for dragging him into another cult ready to give the rise to Ganon. He noticed that Kohga was staring at him, waiting for him to say something.

“You call him both a King and a Lord, which is it?” That was the only thing that came to mind. It was stupid, but better than giving way to his rare moments of Blue-like anger.

“It doesn’t matter,” Kohga waved away, “why do the Hylians called the Hero both the Hero and the Champion? Wouldn’t you know, are you not Hylian, too? Who are you?”

“Like I said,” he repeated, “my name is Vio. I’m…not from around here.”

“And why is that mark on your hand?”

Vio wanted to move his hand out of view, but his hands were tied in front of him. How could he explain this away? They were looking for a Hero, but clearly a different one than him. Was he in a different time? It was possible, but that didn’t tell him anything about how he got there or why he was in possession of a bunch of cultists.

He ran through all the reasons why someone would be marked like him. Being blessed, a birthmark, a tattoo, magic, a weird tan, a brand, a copy of the image-

No, he told himself. He said he would never do that again.

But he could be killed! He was sitting in some desert cave with people who were looking to murder the Hero and he already couldn’t walk. Not to mention, the arrows were still sticking out of both shoulders.

The others wouldn’t know, they weren’t here. He would have to search for them after he got out of the situation. Blue would be furious, but it wasn’t like they were on the opposite end this time, just some unlucky sap.

Plus, he could hinder these Yiga, if he pretended to join their side. No one would even know. He sadly had a lot of practice in the double agent business.

“You said you work for Lord Ganon?” Vio hesitantly spoke, “well, so do I.”

“What is your game?” Kohga pouted, “that is a lie if I have ever seen one.”

“It’s not a lie,” Vio bared his teeth in a smile, just like Shadow used to do, “ever hear of the echo that follows the Hero? Looks exactly like him, down to the scars and marks. Its duty is to kill the Hero and bring the end of Hyrule.”

“We have records of some instances of this occurring,” he rubbed his chin, “like the Hero of Time facing Dark Link.”

Who? Vio shook his head.

“That hack?” He laughed, “please, there’s only one me, no others can do what I have and will do.”

“You’re talking big game,” Nancy inched forward, threatening him with her blade, “still haven’t said who you are. Or what you have done.”

“Ever hear of the Hero of the Four Sword?” He received a bunch of shaking heads. Good, they wouldn’t know he was lying. “Well, I convinced him to the side of Ganon, to the side of darkness. I’ve corrupted an agent of light, only the shadow of the Hero could do that. I said my name was Vio, but legends call me that Shadow.”

“Shadow, huh?” Kohga leaned close to him. Vio wanted to gag, why did his breath stink so bad it went through the mask? “Can you prove it?”

“Only if you untie me,” Vio lied, “until then, maybe you can answer my questions. You see, I was brought here, summoned by something, or someone, and I was wondering who did that. Did G-my Master summon me, or was it you?”

This was harder than he remembered.

“The ritual,” a Yiga piped up, “did it actually work this time?”

“Ritual?” He hummed, “yes, that could be the case. Now, would you so kindly untie me? We are on the same side, and it is awfully rude of you to call just to torture me.”

No one moved, they still didn’t trust him. He feigned anger.

“You dare, the audacity!” Vio snarled, “I am second in command to Lord Ganon himself, I could kill any of you in an instant. Untie me at once before I slay all of your pathetic Yiga clan members and find followers worthy of the Demon King!”

He had never been untied so fast. That worked? Ganon really did need to find better followers.

“Good.” He rubbed his wrists once freed, “now, someone get me a fairy or potion. These arrows won’t kill me, but they will certainly be a distraction if you want to kill the Hero.”

A Yiga member came running with a bottled fairy. Poor thing, it looked like it had been in there for a while. As a show of strength, even if it was stupid, Vio ripped out the two arrows harshly, making no noise as he was healed and could walk again.

“Everyone leave,” Vio waved his hand, “if you want to win, like I have, you will do everything I say. And, if you don’t believe me still, tomorrow I will show you proof of my powers.”

The Yiga scuttled out, causing him to reminisce of the time when he and Shadow ruled over those monsters. He hated to say it, but he missed bossing around his enemies. It was better than them killing him.

“Um, Lord Shadow?” Kohga didn’t leave.

“Vio, please,” there was no way he could take being called Shadow, “works for anonymity. Master Kohga was it?”

“Yes,” he stood up straight, “I have been leading the Yiga going on four years now, and…”

“You’re worried I will take your leadership role?” He chuckled for effect, “don’t worry, this is your clan, pathetic as it is, but if Lord Ganon decrees that I help, then I must. You can also help with that, you need to explain to me what is going on in this time. It’s been a few thousand years since I’ve last seen Hyrule.”

He followed Kohga to another room, adopting the swagger he saw Shadow walk with, and watched as he pulled out a tapestry. He explained the history of Hyrule, but not going so far as to hit Vio’s time.

All the while, he thought about what he was going to do to prove his ‘powers’ for the coming day. He had made that up, hoping to add some credence to himself. He should’ve thought ahead, not act impulsively like Blue. Though, acting like Blue could be of use if he was to act brutish like Shadow was.

Vio refocused as Kohga informed him on the Hero of this time. He was supposed to be sleeping in some shrine, ready to awake at any moment.

-

The next day Vio walked into an arena, where some thirty odd Yiga were situated. He smirked, praying to Hylia that this worked. In his hands he held a piece of the Dark Mirror, one of the very last fragments and his only source of dark magic. He had hoped to somehow bring Shadow back with it, but he never found out how.

He asked for someone to bring him a plant, and some round, green fruit was rolled over to him. Gaining confidence, he hid the shard in his sleeve and touched it to the fruit. Upon contact, it shriveled up into dust. Darkness did have its benefits, it seemed. Too bad he couldn’t do that more than a couple times without risking the shard.

“That is what would happen to anyone who will oppose me!” Vio threatened, pocketing his item while no one was looking, “but it will be more painful. I will kill you with my own sword, for only the Hero is worthy to die by darkness.”

After that, the Yiga practically bowed down to him.

-

“Wear this,” Kohga handed him an identical outfit to his, complete with the dumb hat.

“Why?” He asked, he liked his outfit just fine.

“You’re a part of the team now,” he replied, “gotta look the part.”

It was moments like these where Vio was happy he could speak his mind, “those outfits look idiotic. I’ll wear the mask, nothing more.”

He swiped the white and red mask that laid on top of the clothes. If he ever had to leave on one of Kohga’s ‘raids’ he would need to hide his face.

“Master Kohga! Lord Shadow!” A Yiga member ran up to them.

“Just Vio, enough with this lord nonsense.”

“The Hero was just spotted leaving the Plateau by a scout!” They screamed excitedly, “he’s awake.”

Oh, Vio did not expect the Hero to actually awake. From the stories he was told, the Hero had been asleep for 100 years, and that already sounded like a fairy tale.

“Looks like my job as just begun,” he grinned to the delight of Kohga, “no one else is allowed to kill him, bring him here alive so that I may be the last thing he sees.”

-

Talk of the Hero followed him through the coming weeks.

“Lord Shadow! The Hero was spotted at Kakariko!”

“Lo-Vio! The Hero just cleansed Vah Ruta, what do we do?”

“He’s heading North!”

“West!”

“He’s heading for the desert.”

A few times, so not to add suspicion, Vio left the hideout. He ventured into the great unknown that was this new Hyrule and pretended to search for the Hero. In reality, he killed monsters that were respawned by the blood moon or helped travelers in areas that other Yiga wouldn’t be watching. He only wore the Yiga mask when he went in an out of the hideout.

On the way back one day, from one of his ‘scouting trips,’ he noticed that the normally empty cell had a Gerudo in it. He froze, careful not to make any noise as to draw her attention away from the back of her cell. What was she doing there?

He slipped away and stormed into Kohga’s room. This had better been a Gerudo trying to sneak in and not a raid that he wasn’t warned about.

“Kohga?!” He roared, scaring out any Yiga that were talking to him, “who is the Gerudo? Why was I not informed of this?”

Kohga dropped a golden helmet that he was holding, frightened, “Lord Vio!”

“Explain,” he gritted his teeth. He learned quickly that the Yiga responded to strength over anything else, so being violent or angry worked fine to get information out of them.

“Since the Hero has cleansed three of the Divine Beasts,” he picked up the helmet, “he will be coming for Vah Naboris, so I made a sure he couldn’t. In order to get close, one must use this, or risked getting struck by lightning. The Gerudo came to take it back, because it’s some treasure of theirs.”

Vio rubbed his forehead, Kohga actually did something smart for once. He thought he’d never see the day.

“This will just draw the Hero to us,” Vio pointed out, “giving away the hideout.”

“That’s why he will never leave,” Kohga smirked, “you said it yourself, the plan all along was to get you two in a room and then...”

He pretended to cut his throat with his finger.

“Isn’t this what you wanted?”

Vio sighed, “you did an excellent job, Kohga, Lord Ganon would be proud. Just don’t do anything without my approval again, ever.”

“Yes, of course!”

He walked away, “I will prepare for the Hero’s arrival. You order your troops.”

Later that night, while Kohga was speaking to the Yiga, Vio snuck near the cell, putting on his mask so that she would never be able to recognize him later. He knocked on her bars.

“Uh!” The Gerudo jumped, but Vio quickly shushed her, “what do you want, Yiga?”

“I’m here to release you,” he whispered harshly, flinching at any noise the ruins made, “you need to get out of here.”

“This a trick!” She refused to quiet down, “I hear what those banana-loving freaks call you. Lord Shadow was it? You want to release me just to kill me when I think I’m free.”

“No!” Vio insisted, moving to open the gate, “you are not supposed to be here. I’m not with the Yiga, I’m…”

He thought for a second, what could he say? That he was a Hero from the past? A liar? A saboteur?

“A Sheikah spy,” he decided. He never met one before, but they were apparently the Yiga’s arch nemeses, “I’ve infiltrated the Yiga and I’m here to help the Hero.”

“You’re lying,” she sneered, “the Sheikah would rather die than pretend to be slaves to Ganon!”

“Shh!” Vio lost his chance when a torch started to glow from inside the hideout. He swore, taking one last look at the glaring Gerudo before running out of there. He couldn’t be found out now, not when it was most dangerous. It would be like the mirror all over again, maybe worse with other lives at stake.

He ran out of the hideout, he could make up some lie later that he needed a place to practice archery in peace or something, only stopping when he made it to the frogs. What was with the Yiga and the frogs? He never bothered to ask, same with the bananas.

He sighed, if only the Gerudo believed him, she would be safe. He would try again later, maybe ‘accidentally’ leave her cell open when she was asleep. As for the Hero…

His thoughts trailed off as he saw something new in the distance. Blue ribbons of light in varying shades floated from the sky to somewhere hidden by a rock. After a minute or two, he made out a figure that was running straight towards the entrance. A figure that was cloaked in a lovely sky blue.

Sh*t! The Hero was here already? How? He could teleport? Vio had no time to think, he couldn’t let himself be seen by the Hero, but he also couldn’t let himself be seen by the Yiga letting the Hero go.

The Hero was upon him, it was too late. Without even changing his expression, the Hero sliced at him, ready to kill.

He dodged, managing not to get hit, and he did the only thing he could think of. He pulled out one of those smoke bombs the Yiga used to ‘teleport’ around and threw it on the ground. The Hero coughed on the smoke and Vio was already gone, hiding somewhere, when he could see again.

Vio watched as the Hero decided to forget about him, and he charged into the fortress. Seconds later, the Gerudo he was trying to save ran out. He sighed, at least she would be safe from the carnage.

He waited for the Yiga to sound the alarm that the Hero had infiltrated, that would be when he would enter once more. After that? He didn’t know. He had been caught so off guard by Kohga’s actions.

A whistle was sounded, coming all the way from the arena. Vio rushed in and found a foot soldier Yiga looking disheveled near Kohga’s room.

“Lord Shadow!” They shouted, “the Hero, he-“

“What, spit it out!” The soldier was stuttering.

“He killed Master Kohga!” They screamed.

That was fast, he thought to himself. Kohga talked big game about having a special move, which probably was terrible in reality. He didn’t feel much pity for the man’s death, he voluntarily signed up to follow Ganon, he knew what would come to him.

“We have him surrounded, but Master Kohga was the strongest of us,” the Yiga admitted, “what do we do, Master Shadow?”

“Master?” He hadn’t been called that before.

The Yiga nodded, “you’re next in charge to lead us, Master Kohga told us so.”

“Perfect,” he snarled, “I will face the Hero myself then. I will avenge your leader, he was a loyal follower of Lord Ganon.”

Vio confidently walked to the area, ignoring all the new blood stains that littered the room and the doorway. He slowly opened the door, dramatic effect was always the way of the Yiga and he needed to play the part.

What to do? He thought crazily in his head. This was just like Death Mountain, except instead of one person watching him, it was a whole clan who were out for blood. How could he make it look like the Hero was killed with all the onlookers.

An idea came to him when he saw the Hero backed against the gigantic pit, fending off a bunch of Yiga.

He grinned, “back off! He’s mine!”

The Yiga parted quickly and the Hero stared at the Yiga he had failed to kill. Raising his sword, a nearly broken scimitar, the Hero was ready for a fight.

“It so good to finally meet you Champion of Hyrule?” Vio started to walk forward, not even attempting to draw his sword, “is that the helmet that the Yiga stole? You came all the way here just to get it? Big mistake.”

He glanced around, looking at the shaking masses of the Yiga. They were really shaken by the loss of their leader.

“You killed Master Kohga?”

“He pushed him into the pit!” A Yiga yelled in rage, “used his own magic against him!”

“Yeah!” “Avenge him!” “Kill the Hero!” “Master Shadow!”

“Then it is only fair that the Hero dies the same way,” he loved the cheers that he was given. Now, there would be no question as to why he wouldn’t use dark magic. Don’t need much to shove someone into a pit.

The Hero kept his stance, one hand wrapped around the helmet protectively. Vio smiled sadly.

“Ready to die again, Hero?” He teased, “no way to vanish from this.”

He summoned Blue-like rage and Green-like strength and charged. The Hero did likewise, hefting his sword and came swinging.

They were both at a disadvantage. Vio was refusing to use his weapon, he couldn’t risk killing the Hero and he needed him conscious for his plan to work. The Hero had to hold back as he was fighting with one hand tied behind his back holding the helmet. He couldn’t let the helmet be damaged.

Vio dodged. The Hero pushed against him. The Yiga roared for blood.

Slowly but surely, Vio was succeeding at his mission. After a while, the Hero was pushed against the pit, and one more-he slipped! He was hanging on by his right hand, dropping his sword to do so. He looked down at the darkness below, never even hearing the sword hit the bottom.

Perfect, Vio was right where he needed to be. He stepped on the Hero’s hand, making sure he didn’t fall until it was just right.

“KILL HIM!” The crowd roared. They were hushed when he put a finger to his lips, or where they would be under the mask.

“After you fall,” he leaned near the Hero, watching his eyes scramble for an exit, “remember my name. You’ll need it in the afterlife. No Sheikah tech to save you again, not even that slate on your hip.”

Vio moved away and kicked his last fingers off.

“Remember to ask for Vio in the Dark Realm.”

He walked away as the Hero fell down the pit and the Yiga erupted in cheers. They had avenged their master and prepared for the arrival of Lord Ganon all at once. Vio smiled.

Of course, he ignored the the blue strands of light that appeared at the bottom.

-

“We appeared in a desert?!” Blue complained, “a motherf*cking desert!?”

“Blue, language,” Green shot him a look as he helped Red up from being buried under some sand.

“Who’s Hyrule is this?” Warriors asked, covering his eyes from the wind with his scarf.

“Mine!” Wild raised his hands, “I’d recognize these harsh winds anywhere. We’re near Gerudo Highlands and we are far from the exit to the desert.”

“Lovely,” Legend sneered.

“On the bright side,” Wild smiled, “as long as we watch out for the lizalfos and not disturb them, we won’t have to deal with any monsters. No one else can survive out here.”

“Including us, Cub?” Twilight asked him.

“I’ve tested it, you can survive a day and a half in this desert and that’s only if you have no food.”

“How did you test it, Cub?”

“Uhhhhhh…”

“You said there’s nothing else out here?” Wind asked and then pointed to three Hylian travelers completely ignoring the dust clouds, “who are they?”

Wild immediately pulled out his sword, “those are different. Those are Yiga!”

“Yiga?” Green finally got Red out of the sand pile.

“Oh, the traitors,” Warriors growled, “I am assuming we are fighting.”

“Most definitely,” Wild yelled at the hidden Yiga members, “you can stop it! You aren’t fooling anyone.”

“You could at least have fun with us killing you!” The three travelers jumped and suddenly they were dressed in red and rushing them.

The Links all prepared for a fight where they were all hot and most of them couldn’t see because of the sand in their eyes. They were just Yiga, though, it should be a piece of cake for 11 Heroes to deal with.

-

Green groaned as he felt his pounding head. The last thing he remembered was getting struck on the back of the head and then eating a mouthful of sand.

He looked around. He was in a small cell with Red and Blue, who were passed out still, and Wild, who was awake and very annoyed.

“Great, you’re awake!” Wild smiled.

“What happened?”

“The Yiga knocked you and Red out, taking you as hostage,” Wild explained, “Blue got angry and tried to save you and then got taken hostage as well. Then I turned myself over so they didn’t kill you. Now we are in the Yiga hideout, which I thought was empty.”

“And you haven’t escaped yet?” Green squinted, “that isn’t like you.”

“They took my slate,” he shrugged, “that’s how I escaped last time. Also, I can’t carry three bodies, no matter how small you and your brothers are.”

“Fair.”

“THEY’RE WHAT?” A voice boomed throughout the hideout. A strikingly familiar voice, but it couldn’t be…

“We captured the Hero and his friends,” a meek voice echoed, “his friends look almost exactly-“

“I don’t care,” the angry voice interrupted, “take me to them and then leave. I want to be alone with these Heroes.”

“Of course, Master.”

Footsteps grew louder and louder as they approached the cell. Wild was the first to see who it was.

“This guy again?” He sneered, “you want another death match?”

“You’re much more talkative than the last time we met, Hero,” there was no doubt about it, this was Vio. This was smart, idiotic, betrayal loving Vio, complete with a Yiga mask covering his face, but not he iconic clothes. “I recall saving your live with that little fall of yours.”

“You didn’t plan that!” Wild stood, ready to punch him through the bars, “cowards, the lot of you Yiga. Especially you, Master Shadow!”

“V-vio?” Green stood up slowly, coming into the light of the torches, “is that you?”

“Green?” He backed away, “what are you doing here? Blue, Red!?”

“What am I-what are you!?” Green laughed weakly, “Master Shadow? Shadow?! Are you in charge here?”

He looked down at his feet, refusing to let Green see the mask of a traitor.

“Did you pull a Vio?” Green growled, “again?!”

“It works!” He protested, “I would have been dead day one when we split if not for-“

“Hold up!” Wild slammed his hands on the bars, “you two know each other?”

“Oh,” Vio removed his mask, “you have never seen what I look like.”

Wild gaped as an exact copy of Green, Red, and Blue looked at them with dead eyes. Vio looked like he hadn’t had a full rest in months, which was probably true. Despite that, he was smiling warmly at his brother.

“There’s four of you?”

“We aren’t called the Hero of the Four Sword for nothing,” Vio laughed.

“And you’re a Hero?” Wild’s brain was fried, “why are you the leader of the Yiga?”

“That’s pulling a Vio,” Green explained.

“That explains nothing.”

Vio sighed, “pulling a Vio is what my brothers call when I ‘betray them.’ I’m not actually a part of the Yiga and I don’t follow Ganon, but I am pretending to be. I sabotage them from the inside, and it is working. You killed Kohga and escaped with the helmet, which you couldn’t have done without me.”

“Okay,” Wild was starting to understand, he just didn’t want to, “why’d you go by Shadow, then? That’s what all the Yiga have been calling you.”

“Yeah,” Green looked at him oddly, “you look nothing like him.”

“They don’t know that,” he hissed, “the only way I could explain away the triforce mark on my hand was that I was Shadow mimicking the Hero of the Four Swords. They don’t know our story, so they bought.”

“Great,” Wild smiled sarcastically, “now that we are all caught up, how about you let us out of this cell.”

“Of course,” Vio immediately opened it up, “but now that you guys are here, I can finally leave. I couldn’t before because they would hunt me down for going awol. It’s just a matter of us sneaking out now.”

“Wait,” Green grinned, “they think you are Shadow-“

“Yes, we’ve been over this.”

“-which would make me look like the Hero of the Four Sword to them-“

“You are? Green, pick up Red, we need to go.”

“-how about we show them the final battle of the Hero’s Shadow?” He finished, “then they would never track you down, if they thought you were dead.”

Vio gave it no thought, “no. Never.”

“C’mon! It’ll be fun, just like old times!”

“When I pretended you were dead on multiple occasions?”

“YES!”

-

“…why am I agreeing to this?” Vio shook his head.

“Because karma,” Green chirped before raising his sword, “begone fowl demon of the Dark Realm!”

They were standing on the cliff face behind the pit, where a bunch of Yiga stood watching their Master. Wild snuck away with Red and Blue with the Sheikah Slate that Vio gave back while the two caused a distraction. Vio dragged Green all the way to where they were now and declared a duel.

He sighed, “Hero of the Four Sword, my mortal enemy, and the only one who can kill me! You have finally come.”

“Yes,” Green tried to hide his laughter, “I will destroy you for murdering my precious brother Vio!”

“Wait,” a Yiga called from below, “I thought your name was Vio?”

Green faked a gasp, “you killed him and took his name? DEVIOUS!”

Vio rolled his eyes, “yes, I thought it suited me. He was always a nerd, so I thought he would see the irony.”

“Nerd,” Green snickered under his breathe before yelling one last time, “HAVE AT THEE, THOU VILLAIN!”

“With pleasure.”

The battle was a ridiculous one. Vio sliced just once and Green only used his hammer. It was all theatrical, Vaati would have approved with how dramatic he was. It wasn’t until Vio was hit with one final thwack that Green stole his sword for the killing blow.

“This is for my brother,” he raising the sword high so that every Yiga could see. From their angle, they couldn’t see Vio’s rolled away from any danger. “Who I have missed every day since he’s been gone.”

Vio smiled, “as I am sure he has you. Kill me, so that I may tell him your message myself.”

Green struck nothing but stone, though his acting made it look like he was removing his blade from a corpse. The Yiga all shrieked and got into a frenzy, reading to kill Green for their second master in a year.

“Run?” Green backed away from their sight.

“What do you think, idiot?” Vio grabbed his brother’s hand and booked it. They needed to meet Wild at the shrine so they could hide until everything cooled down. “…did you really miss me?”

Green snorted, “of course. Red’s been worried sick and Blue…”

Vio laughed, “we’re going to have an actual corpse on our hands when he wakes up.”

“Glad to see you still have some intelligence.”

Chapter Text

“Twilight, what are you doing?” Wild was on his way to go look for supplies when he found his mentor crying. Crying over a wolf pup that had wondered into camp.

“So fluffy,” Twilight whispered as he snuggled with the wolf. He wasn’t actually crying, Wild admitted to himself, but he would bet he would if he were not around.

“That’s a wild animal,” ironic coming from him, “it probably has diseases or something.”

“No,” he held up the pup, “look, he has a collar, so he must belong to someone, meaning he’s safe.”

Indeed, this small red wolf had a collar on his adorable self. He barked happily as Wild read on a red disk that the dog was accurately named Red. Wild huffed as Twilight went back to petting Red, who didn’t seem to mind at all.

“That just means he either ran away and became wild or that we have to return him,” he stated, “don’t get attached.”

“You just hate dogs, Cub.”

“I hate animals that have tried to kill me before and tossed me off a cliff.”

He walked away and didn’t notice Twilight flinch at his words.

“Don’t listen to him,” he mumbled to Red, “he’s just had bad experiences with wolves. So have I, to think of it, but that’s in the past now.”

“Bark!” Red licked his face and Twilight laughed. This was good.

-

“What is going on?” Green stumbled over his newly found paws, “is the Dark World supposed to do this?”

He had no time to react to being turned into timber wolf pup as he was under attacked by whatever that monster was. Think, think! He could attacked now that he was in the Dark World.

As he fought back, he prayed that this didn’t affect his brothers.

-

“This is bull!” Blue wanted to scream. First, he was frozen by some creature, then he was turned into a gray wolf! A baby one at that. The only benefit was that his icy cage was bigger than he was now and he could slightly move around.

Red was more ecstatic. Sure, he was fighting something that froze his brother in a life or death situation and he received a major disadvantage, but, on the other hand, HE WAS A PUPPY! How cool was that?

He grabbed the fire rod in his jaws and wiggled around, hoping that it would still work.

“I am going to kill someone,” Blue groaned.

-

“This is hilarious,” Shadow floated upside down, unable to contain his laughter.

“It really is not,” Vio tried to not let it get to him. It was a side affect from hanging around Shadow too much, he decided, or one of his brothers did something stupid in his absence. He could deal with this with dignity and solve the pr-

“I mean,” Shadow continued, wiping away tears, “I can see the wolf, can definitely see the baby side of it, but your face! It is killing me!”

“Shadow,” Vio growled, “what is happening?”

“Oh, yeah,” he stopped laughing and landed back on the ground to look at the arctic wolf, “one of your, ugh, brothers must’ve gone in the Dark World. Don’t know how they managed that.”

“How do I change back,” he added on some lies to bury himself even deeper into his double agent position, “I do not wish to be held back by what my brothers do any longer.”

“Cute,” Shadow bopped him on the nose, “once they leave the Dark World you should return to normal, but who knows. This might be a new power of yours, Vio. You need to start carrying your weight around here, since I’ve been carrying you.”

“Shadow, no! SHADOW!”

Vio hung helplessly as the demon picked him up and cradled him in his arms. This was so demeaning and Shadow knew exactly what he was doing with that grin. He was going to bite his face off if he didn’t stop soon.

-

Twilight later woke up from a nap to discover that Red had finally left. He was sad, but he hoped he returned to his family. He stretched and headed back to camp to find Four talking to Wild.

“Finally got rid of that mutt?” Wild asked with a sneer.

“He left on his own,” he glared, “it was just a dog, Cub, it wouldn’t have killed me.”

“You’re just lucky that it wasn’t full grown!” Wild looked at Four, “tell Twilight it’s stupid to let a random stray play all around him.”

Four looked like he wanted out of the conversation, “um, I don’t know the full story.”

“Don’t force him to talk,” Twilight snapped, “not everyone hates dogs like you.”

Wild was about to respond when Four spoke up.

“Actually, I don’t like dogs either,” he admitted, “one nearly killed me when I was smaller, so I’m pretty wary of them. If that friend of yours comes back, I’ll probably be far away from it.”

“See!” Wild smiled triumphantly and he and Twilight continued to argue while Four slipped away.

-

Green collapsed on the ground as he somehow beat the corrupted knight. He was tired and his whole body ached as his old colleague came back to his senses.

“My word,” Valenzuela blinked away the curse and saw the crumpled wolf, “what happened?”

Green whimpered and tried to move to the moon pearl, he had dropped it right after arriving in the Dark World, a split second before he transformed. He tapped it and both him and the knight were transported to the Light World. Back home, Green shifted to a beaten up human.

“Link!” Valenzuela gasped and rushed to look at any injuries, “are you alright?”

He nodded hesitantly, “yes, how are you?”

-

Blue was laying in his ice prison when he transformed back. His body grew too big at the angle he was and burst through the ice, shattering it like glass. He looked over to see Red laying the final blow on the monster.

“Green did something,” he knew immediately.

“Somthm coo!” Red smiled with the fire rod still in his mouth.

Blue swiped it and handed it to him, “carry this like a human, now that we’re back from whatever that was.”

“Do you think we could do that again?”

“Don’t.”

“Aww…” Red frowned before putting on a mischievous grin, “I bet Green could figure out how to change back and forth faster than you could.”

“F*cking watch me, no he can’t!”

It was a good day, Red decided and he followed his brother out of the cave.

-

Vio felt no regrets as he fell on top of Shadow once he changed back. It was childish, but the satisfying ‘ow’ that he let out was too good to not savor. Next time Shadow better let him go when he said, not that there would be a next time.

“You deserved this,” he stood up and continued walking up the stairs of the fortress.

“Wait, Vio,” Shadow ran up after him, “I was only joking, c’mon! You were so tiny as a pup.”

“You mean weak,” he mumbled and pulled a book off a passing shelf. ‘Dark World and it’s Curses’ could be an interesting read.

“Oh,” Shadow noticed what he was holding, “you like that? Since you’re a nerd, I got some books for you. Figured you might as well like it here, partner.”

“Thanks…”

He was making it very hard to not want to stab him in the back. The jerk.

-

“Where are these coming from?!” Legend complained as he woke up to find four puppies running around camp, “Twilight, I thought you said there was only one?”

Twilight, who was holding Red once again, shrugged, “I’ve only ever seen Red here. These pups are new.”

“Where’s Wild?” Warriors asked, backing away from a hissing wolf with a collar that labeled it as Blue.

“Sulking,” Twilight answered, “he’s by the river.”

“He’s missing out,” Wind, who was only just introduced to the concept of a dog, was in love with the wolf he was playing tug of war with, who’s name tag read Green, “these guys are awesome!”

“These collars are familiar,” Legend picked up Blue against his will and ignored the snarling to check out the name tag, “aren’t these those kinstones Four mentioned, the ones he wears on his belt?”

“They must be from his time,” Sky thought aloud, “wondered in a portal. We should ask Four when he returns from the village.”

While all of that was happening, the fourth and final wolf, a pure white one labeled as Vio, trotted over to where Time was resting underneath a large tree. He silently sat down next to him as Time opened up his one good eye.

“Hello there,” Time smiled, “are you looking for quiet, too?”

Vio nodded and stood still.

“Then I won’t bother you if you won’t bother me.”

They were both going to get along fine, neither made a sound for hours until all four pups vanished into the trees. Four walked out a little while later, expressing his disappointment in the shop he needed to buy from was closed.

Someone mentioned the four wolves and their connection to Four’s world.

“That’s a real problem back home,” he explained, “pets keep walking into random portals.”

“How many portals do you have?” Legend asked, “and why are they just sitting around like that?”

Four smiled guiltily, “I might’ve accidentally put some in the middle of a field, but it’s alright. The animals all know how to get back home, so I’m sure those wolves are fine if they are anyone’s.”

-

“Please-“

“No.”

“You don’t even know what I’m going to say,” Shadow protested.

“I am not putting on a collar like some pet!”

Over the couple of days, Vio had been trying to hone his ability to turn into a wolf. He hoped that as he got more powerful and could transform at will that he would no longer be a puppy, though it wasn’t looking good. He could become a wolf with just one thought, but he stayed as small as he ever was.

Shadow thought to cheer him up he should mock him.

“It’s not a collar,” he explained and handed him a purple kinstone on a leader cord, “think of it as a necklace.”

“Is this a kinstone?” Vio looked at it, “how did you find one? You aren’t exactly the model of a good person for the Minish to give you one.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he smirked, “I’d thought you’d like it. You Hylians think they bring good luck, so here’s to your new powers.”

He smiled and put on the necklace, “thanks.”

“No problem, anything for a friend.”

“Are you avoiding the fact that you beat up a Minish to get this?”

“…”

-

“Wild? Cub?” Twilight trudged through the trees looking for where his ward went. It was getting dark and he didn’t want him out all alone. The pups had again showed up and Wild went away from them like the last time.

What he did not expect to come across was Wild sulking on a rock near the river with the pup Blue on his head. The two showed equal amounts of displeasure at the situation, though neither of them did anything about it.

“I thought you didn’t like dogs?” Twilight covered his mouth not to laugh.

With a completely straight face, Wild stated, “I don’t.”

The snarling puppy hanging off of him, but not harming him, begged to differ. Blue didn’t seem to like humans as much as Wild disliked dogs, perhaps they were existing in a yin and yang of peace.

“Well,” Twilight started to walk back, “come back to camp with your new friend, it’s getting dark.”

“Not my friend!”

“BARK!”

-

“You make me sick!” Shadow spat in Vio’s face as he hung from the spire.

“I didn’t want it to be this way,” Vio pleaded, “I’m so-“

“YOU WERE TRYING TO KILL ME!” He growled, “what else would happen from destroying the mirror?”

“As long as you weren’t killed you wouldn’t die with the mirror,” Vio argued, “you said so yourself. Shadow, you’re destroying my home!”

“And you were about to destroy mine!” Shadow breathed heavily and looked at Vio’s necklace that was swaying in the harsh volcanic winds. He snatched it, ripping the cord and clenched the kinstone in his hand. “I thought we were friends.”

“We are, I wanted to be,” he looked down, “but my home comes first.”

“If you stayed with me,” Shadow started to walk away, “you needn’t hang like a dog.”

Vio watched he leave, to commence the execution that was doomed to never happen, his brothers waiting to save him at any moment.

-

“You have to go, buddy?” Twilight asked a couple days later to Red as he yapped and waddled away. He glanced at Wild to see him pouting still with Blue on his head. “I think your friend needs to leave.”

“Not. My. Friend.” Wild nether the less gently placed Blue on the ground.

The four pups ran over to each other and went to leave as the sun was setting. Twilight heard some snarls coming from the woods as they left, snarls of monsters, and became concerned.

“There’s been more monsters here recently,” he said aloud to no one, “I’m going to make sure the pups are okay.”

They probably had a portal nearby that they used frequently, and it would be beneficially to find out where that was and if they could use it. He picked up his sword and followed after the pups.

The soft barks grew quieter as he walked. He feared he might have lost them, if not for the paw prints in the mud. Though, the prints soon turned into boot marks in an odd fashion. It was then that he heard a conversation.

“Found yourself someone as annoyed as you?” It sounded like Four, but at a slightly higher pitch, “never thought I’d see the day!”

“Shut it,” another person, also sounding like Four, growled, “I wouldn’t have to be near the lesser of eight evils if Red didn’t get antsy being cooped up.”

Red? Was this the wolf or a person?

“Sorry,” a soft voice apologized, “it’s just…Twilight’s so nice! He liked playing with me!”

Twilight froze at his name being said and the gears started turning in his head. That was definitely the Red that hung out with him somehow talking. It couldn’t be…

“At this point we might as well reveal ourselves so I don’t have to be a mutt in my rare moments of free time.”

“You know we can’t do that,” a fourth voice warned, “this is the only way for us to be out while keeping it a secret.”

“Almost gave it away with those dumb kinstones.”

“Blue,” the fourth voice spoke with anger.

“Guys!” The first voice returned, “someone’s here.”

Twilight had no time to run away before someone who looked like Four looked through the trees and right at him.

-

“Vio!” Red ran up to his injured brother. Vaati was causing the Tower of Winds to collapse and they were separated for a short time. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah,” Vio stammered, leaning on the crumbling wall for support.

“Do you need hel-“

“No,” he interrupted, “there’s no time. Follow me.”

Ignoring Red, Blue, and Green’s complaints, Vio perfectly lead them up the tower to find their enemy. As he walked, the others started to notice something strange was going on. No one yet voiced their concerns aloud, but they were all thinking it.

Despite acting injured, there was no visible blood or bruises. While one hand was on the wall, the other was clutched around a necklace that they had never seen him wear openly before. He also seemed to know where to go in a place that he should have never been.

“Vio,” Green wad the first to speak up, “where did you get that necklace?”

“Uh, does it matter?” He didn’t look back, “it’s, I got it while undercover. I-Shadow gave it to me…it’s supposed to hide myself from dark magic.”

That was a painfully obvious lie.

He tripped on a step before getting up again. The fall caused no extra pain, even though he supposedly could barely walk.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Red prodded.

“I’m fine, Red!” Vio shouted at him and his eyes briefly turned red.

“Guys?” A new person spoke up. They looked over to see a non-injured Vio waving at them at the end of some of the ruins. Confused, they looked back to in front of them to see no one standing there.

Who had they been talking to?

-

“Twilight?” The green Four gasped, “what are you doing here?”

“Twilight’s here?” There was some shuffling behind green Four.

“What’s going on?” He asked slowly, coming out of the trees and was able to make out not one, not two, but four Fours…and the name was making sense now.

There were four Fours, the only different between them were the color of their tunics. Where Four had a multicolored tunic of red, blue, green, and violet, these Fours had singular colored tunics of those color options. Wait, Red, Blue, Green, and Vio-let.

And suddenly everything became clear.

“You’ve been to the Twilight Realm?” He asked.

“What? No,” Blue narrowed his eyes, “you just discovered that Four is four people in a trench coat and, judging by your reaction, you realize that we were the wolves, and the first thing you ask is that?”

“I’ve experienced this before,” he stated simply, “the wolf thing, not the splitting into four.”

“Let’s, uh,” Green ran his fingers through his hair, “let us get back as one and then we’ll explain.”

“But I wanna talk with Twilight!” Red complained, “just five minutes?”

“Later, Red,” Vio assured him.

Twilight watched as they all reached out their swords and Four was back as one. Looking slightly frazzled, he attempted a smile.

“So,” he started, “you’ve been a wolf, too, huh?”

Four explained to him his journey, about how a trip to the Dark World granted him the power to turn into a wolf. He showed his the Four Sword as well. In turn, Twilight revealed that he used to be able to turn into a wolf as well, but could no longer do it without forcibly being shoved into dark magic.

“Please don’t tell anyone about this,” Four begged, “I really didn’t want anyone to know about the four of me, and the wolf pup thing would make everything worse.”

“Don’t worry,” Twilight held a finger to his lips, “it’s just like the Minish thing. Speaking of, do you have any other secrets that I need to know about?”

Four smiled, “no. Unless you count me being able to blow things up with my mind.”

“…”

“I’m joking.”

“Thank goodness!”

The two walked back to camp, chatting. They shared how it felt to be put into a different body and how it affected combat. They also talked about the social side of it.

“About Red,” Twilight thought about all the times he had hung out with the pup, “sorry you had to be in that position. I wouldn’t have pet you if I knew you were, well, you.”

Four’s face grew as red as his counterpart’s tunic, “about that…Red actually really liked hanging out with you. He likes being a dog more than the rest of us, and being played with. So, could you…?”

Twilight understood, “as long as you are not uncomfortable with me playing with Red. I kind of fall apart around dogs.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“Also, please take off Blue’s collar the next time we transform. He’s ready to murder someone if it isn’t taken off.”

“I’ll leave that to Wild.”

-

Vio held onto his friend as the light began to dissolve his form. Shadow was hissing at the pain, somehow managing to keep a smirk on his face.

“You idiot,” Vio grumbled, trying to think of someway to stop what was happening, “why did you break the mirror, after everything?”

“Well, you were the smart one and it was your plan,” he shrugged, “so I assumed it was a good enough plan to try it.”

Vio’s brothers stood awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Sure, Shadow just saved the day with his sacrifice, but he was also responsible for what was happening. Though, Vio cared for him.

“Hey, sorry I took this back, it was a gift,” Shadow weakly handed Vio his necklace, along with three others in different colors, “brought good luck, though. You won.”

“You absolute idiot,” he took them in time for Shadow’s hands to completely vanish.

“You’re face when you turned into a wolf cub,” he smiled into sun, “it was hilarious.”

And then he was no more.

Chapter Text

Time walked through the creaking woods, watching as the trees seemed to sway and grow to block his exit. The sunlight was being blocked out by heavy layers of leaves and he could hear the cries of pokemon in the distance. He only recognized this place as the Lost Woods, but there was no saying who’s or when it was.

Something had spooked Twilight’s wooloo and it had ran into the woods. He had ran to go after it when Time stopped him. The Lost Woods were a dangerous place and only he knew the secrets of taming the pokemon that dwelled their. Twilight relented, asking him to be safe and return with his companion.

Time rolled his eyes at the concern. Unlike the others, he carried none of his pokemon on him, making them think he was unprotected. His rapidash was back home with Malon, along with his yamask, because he wanted them away from battling after all their years together. He didn’t need protection from wild pokemon, and he was strong enough to stop any other threats that came his way.

He continued walking, waving to the shadows that moved or the bugs that peaked out curiously. Kindness was the only way to stay away spirits or those looking to be safe and hidden.

Then, his heart stopped. He heard a child’s screams and cries pierce the air in terror. He broke out in a sprint, not thinking of what the source of the noise could actually be. There was a child alone in the woods, who knows what could happen to it.

He would hate for a passing drifloon to take their next victim.

He ran and scanned the trees to find the child. The cries continued, going from terrified to heartbreaking. The child was scared and alone, possibly abandoned. If it didn’t stop something far less kind could find it.

It would be fine, Time’s mind tried to calm him, you were.

Yeah, the other side of him argued, but only after the pokemon decided not to kill you and raised you instead. Without her or the other fairy pokemon that took pity on you, you would be dead.

His thoughts trailed off as he finally found the source of the cries. It wasn’t a child, like he believed, but rather a trembling phantump sitting in a singular stream of light. It was shaking fiercely and it had its back turned to Time.

He relaxed before tensing up once more. No child was endangered, though he was now the one in trouble. Phantumps relied on their human-like noises to lure people into traps, and he fell for it.

He could attempt to calm it, he had done so back in his old home. The other phantumps he used to play with, one named Skull Kid, often would let him pass if they were happy. He just had to entertain the pokemon.

“Hello, little guy,” he said with a smile, grabbing the pokemon’s attention, “how are you?”

The phantump turned its head slowly, blinking, confused, at the sight of him. Time waited for the charade to drop, where it would try to attack him, but nothing happened. The phantump continued crying tears of mist, only silent now, and it seemed to have no malice.

Odd, up until now it had exhibited the perfect traits for a scavenger of souls. It was possible that this pokemon was simply sad, not looking to cause harm at all.

It was moments like these that Time remembered these creatures used to be human children, killed at too young of an age.

“I’m not here to hurt you,” he inched forward, reaching out one hand, “I heard your cries. Are you alright?”

The phantump spun around, panicking, and its eyes widened. It had lead a human to its location on accident, that was a problem. It didn’t mean to, now it was going to get caught.

It faded in and out of existence, refusing to make more noise. The trees around them moved and writhed, blocking out what little sunlight was left. Time payed it no mind, this was a strong phantump, certainly, but it was no trevenant.

“I don’t have any poke balls on me,” he gestured to his pouched, showing it empty of anything of the sort, “I’m not here to catch you.”

The phantump came back into opaqueness, shivering less at the information. It didn’t move any closer, though.

“My name is Link,” he introduced, “though I go by Time right now. I used to be a trainer, but I much prefer fighting my own battles.”

The pokemon stopped moving completely. It froze in place at his name and he let out a tiny squeak.

“I am sorry if I have scared you?” He raised an eyebrow at the reaction.

It recovered from its shock and bolted into the trees. Time watched as the branches around him reverted back to their normal shapes and wondered if he was free to go. He stepped, ready to leave, when the phantump came flying back, holding something in its arms.

Time took it, inspecting the blue carved piece. He would recognize anywhere, anytime, the Ocarina of Time. He stared in horror at the sad phantump, realizing that he was in what they called the Downfall Timeline.

This phantump, a lost child who died, it was…he was…

He clenched the instrument and looked into the eyes of the pokemon. A silent understanding passed between the two of them. The phantump latched onto Time’s arms and refused to ever let go, and Time wasn’t about to stop him.

He would protect him with his life after he already lost his.

-

“Thank you!” Twilight happily hugged his wooloo. After finding the phantump, Time spent twenty minutes looking for the thing before finding it under a bush.

“It was no problem,” Time smiled, ignoring all the looks he got for the pokemon on his shoulder.

“Don’t run off again, Ordona,” Twilight chastised his pokemon, “you remember what happened last time.”

Ordona bleated sadly, thinking about the last time some monsters almost killed him. Twilight went to go take care of Ordona over by his other pokemon, a drifblim named Dusk.

Time went to his own things and showed the phantump all of his items. Proving even more who he was to him with a slingshot and some of the masks he still had from his Hyrule.

“So,” Warriors walked up behind him hesitantly, “you finally have a partner?”

Warriors was one of those most vocal at his lack of partnerships. He had a whole team with him, only keeping out his aegislash Arthur regularly, and proclaimed how useful they were in battle. He trained and treated them all well, refusing to be caught unguarded ever again. He believed his team to be unstoppable, so the very idea of another Hero being alone confused him.

Time shook his head, “he’s not my partner.“

“Then what is it?” Warriors examined the phantump, who tried to hide under Time’s armor, “you don’t usually let pokemon follow you.”

“Is it like me and Lethe?” Wild walked up, his pokemon mimikyu waddling politely behind him.

Wild was a special case, both in terms of Heroes and pokemon. He saved his time against monsters and pokemon alike with nary any help. He was crazy and chaotic, and he spent his time mostly alone. He used to have a team like Warriors, but they were all lost in the Calamity. He didn’t even remember what they were or what their names were.

Lethe was a blessing when he woke up. He had found the mimikyu, wrapped in burnt up and soaked rags, being attacked by some electric lizalfos when he saved him. Having no idea what catching was, Wild watched as the pokemon followed him of its own volition after that moment.

From then on, he and Lethe offered each other protection and companionship, without having the chokehold of a poke ball between them. It was a strange relationship, but it worked.

Time nodded, “something like that. He’s going to be with us for awhile.”

Wild beamed, he never understood poke balls and he was happy someone else in the group wasn’t using them either. He waved and introduced himself to the phantump.

“Hi!” He smiled and Lethe waggled its faux head around, “I’ve seen others like you on the Plateau and some ruins. You’re really common in my time.”

Time winced. Wild losing all memory of pokemon and him not using poke balls lead to no pokedex. He didn’t know that the death toll on his kingdom lead to the creation of more ghost pokemon than normal.

The phantump peaked out now that Warriors was gone and waved slightly.

“What’s your name?” Wild asked, but he looked to Time for an answer.

Time thought for a moment, he could say his true name, that wasn’t something the others shouldn’t know. It was wrong to call him just ‘the phantump,’ since he was his own spirit.

“Shade,” Time decided. The newly named Shade bobbed his log up and down, showing his approval.

“Nice to meet you, Shade! I’m Wild.”

Over the coming weeks, Shade came out of his closed off shell. He was no long afraid of people and would actually leave Time every once in a while.

Whenever they ran into monsters he tried his best to help his newfound family by attacking with all his might. He was also an asset in sensing any troubles that happened in the forest and warning them of attacks ahead of time.

With the others Links, he best got along with Wild, Four, Wind, and Hyrule. Wild was always kind with him, having a special connection with ghost type pokemon, and Shade leaned towards those more innocent and kid like.

Much to Time’s disappointment, Shade didn’t appreciate Twilight very much, and the reverse was also true. Twilight always looked afraid of the phantump whenever it was near and Shade would scream at the sight of the Hero. Twilight refused to tell Time why he didn’t trust the pokemon.

He shrugged if off as something that couldn’t be explained. Twilight had an odd relationship with other pokemon as well. Even though it was Legend’s pokemon, Zacian could be seen frequently hanging out with him.

It was one of those days when Warriors was in a particularly bad mood. Zacian was laying on Twilight’s lap, scaring away Ordona for the time being, and Legend was trying to ignore the envious feeling growing in his chest.

“Can’t keep your pokemon under control?” Warriors spat.

“Shut up, Warriors,” Legend sneered back, “Zacian can do what she pleases.”

He tried to bite back more scathing remarks that might make the legendary angry. He understood perfectly that Zacian was allowing him to be her trainer and that she could leave anytime.

Still, it hurt that she seemed to want to hang around Twilight more. Did he not prove his worth saving Lorule with Ravio gaining her brother, Zamazenta? Did he have to be the precious golden boy now to compete?

He sighed, he missed his cinderace and primarina that was left back home on mistake. Ravio would be taking good care of him, but he still worried. He was lucky to grab Zacian’s poke ball when he ran into the portal that brought him to the Links.

“Sure,” Warriors drawled, “are you saying that because you are too weak to command her?”

Legend turned on his heels, furious, “how dare-you egotist! I bet you think you’re so much better, all high and mighty, acting like a prison warden.”

Warriors stood up, “what’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t keep my pokemon locked up day in and out. At least Zacian is doing what she wants!”

Warriors snarled, “I am a perfect trainer, my pokemon are okay with staying in their balls in between battle-“

“Yeah, because you would just release them if they weren’t!”

“YOU!”

Zacian barely glanced at her trainer. She huffed before laying back down. Legend was a worthy Hero, but he got into fights too easily. Good thing they didn’t involve her, so she didn’t care. She closed her eyes as Twilight stroked her fur mindlessly.

Swords were about to be drawn when Shade flew over from Time to intercede. He raised his nubs that were his hands and shouted a tiny “ahh” to get their attention. The two stopped arguing to look at the phantump.

“Time!” Warriors growled, “get your pokemon out of here!”

Time called from across the camp, “not my pokemon.”

“See,” Legend smirked, “Time gets it. Pokemon aren’t meant to be in cages.”

“My pokemon are meant for battle,” he refuted, “they are trained and bred to live like this and I make sure there happy.”

“Doubt-“

“AHHH!” Shade screamed again, getting their attention a second time, “ah!”

He looked at the two humans. He didn’t want them to fight. The last time he had seen two people fight each other...it didn’t end...he was hurt...everything hurt...oh no...

Wispy tears started pouring again and Shade shook violently as he sunk to the ground. Legend and Warriors forgot their anger and tried to figure out was going on. Time jumped up from his spot and came running over at the phantump’s distress.

It hurt so much. The lightning struck his core and burned him. He wasn’t a tree yet, why did it feel like he was on fire? He wasn’t a steel type, why did he hear slicing? It hurt so much.

The trees automatically grew around Shade to protect him from the nightmares. The Links stood and watched as the sun was blotted out. He couldn’t stop it.

Navi, where are you? He felt the hands of the drifloon pick him up. He felt the fall into the forest. He heard the whispers of the dead, of all those he failed to save. He felt his soul...it hurt.

It hurt so much. He was too young, sentence to perish at the hands of someone much older for no good reason.

The steel wasn’t a pokemon, that was the sword piercing his stomach. That wasn’t bark of a tree burning, it was his flesh from magic. Navi had dragged him away a final time and he never saw her again. He was alone.

He continued to shake, not feeling the presence of Time holding him closely.

“No fight, no fight,” he managed to mumble. The Links gasped in shock, it was rare for any Pokemon to speak anything but it’s cry. “Please, no fight. Not again. No fight, no fight, no fight. Hurt.”

Legend felt his heart stop, the phantump was freaking out because he and Warriors were fighting? Since when were ghost types sensitive to other people’s emotions?

“Shh,” Time hushed the pokemon, “it’s over, you’re safe.”

“Time, we’re sorry,” Warriors backed up, “he-he just-“

Time waved him away, not caring about whatever dumb reason the two chose to fight about today. He went back to trying to calm the pokemon. He wished Malon was there, she always was good with helping him feel grounded when he was younger.

“Hurt, hurt,” Shade babbled. His speech slowed down and returned to random cries. The trees vanished from the sky and reverted to how they were a little while ago, though some still wiggled.

It was then that Time realized Zacian had come over. He looked up to see the legendary staring at the phantump with understanding eyes. He noticed that Twilight was now standing far away from them, refusing to look in their direction.

“Zacian,” he bowed his head.

The pokemon made no noise as she sat next to them. She nuzzled the phantump, which actually seemed to calm him. Shade fell asleep with Zacian nearby, whispering to him.

Time wondered what she was saying, but he knew the stories of this pokemon. The Hero of Many Battles she and her brother were called, perhaps she knew a restless warrior’s soul when she saw it. Regardless, he was thankful.

“Thank you,” he told Zacian. This wouldn’t be the last time this would happen sadly.

Once Shade was resting peacefully and there was no danger of waking him, Time sat he down on Zacian’s coat and walked over to Twilight. He was pretending not to see him by cutting Ordona’s wool.

He cleared his throat, “what is the matter, Pup?”

Twilight feigned surprise at his approach, “Time! How long have you been there?”

Time glared, not willing to play these games anymore. He wanted to know why Twilight particularly didn’t care for Shade.

“Fine,” he admitted, “what do you mean ‘what’s the matter’?”

“What do you have against Shade?” He gave a more detailed question, “don’t try to lie to me, Pup, I see how you react with him.”

Twilight sighed, “I can’t tell you-it’s just, I’ve seen that pokemon before.”

“Another phantump?”

“No,” he shook his head, “that one, I’m sure of it. It’s an omen of death, that thing is.”

An omen of death? There was no way Twilight knew of the specific origin of Shade, so maybe he was superstitious about ghost pokemon. They were known to be responsible for a number of deaths, so that wasn’t too farfetched. That didn’t explain why it was this one pokemon that he didn’t care for.

“Explain,” Time pressed.

“I can’t,” he repeated, “let’s just say I saw Shade in the future...and it doesn’t mean good things.”

He walked away, ignoring his mentor’s calls, no matter how much it pained him to do so. How was he supposed to say that he saw the phantump with his future dead self?

-

Twilight nearly died for the fifth time that day when he tossed a quick ball at what he thought was an unknown pokemon. It was a strange golden wolf that blocked his path. When he threw his ball, it vanished and he passed out, leading him to wake up and meet the Hero’s Shade.

The Hero’s Shade looked like a ghostly figure of a knight that had long since perished and fought as if it were still alive. He taught Twilight everything he needed to know about sword fighting and being a Hero.

All the times they met, there was always a pokemon near him. That wasn’t odd, Twilight had his own pokemon and even Midna carried around her Purrloin, but the fact that he was dead made it odd on its own. The fact that the pokemon was also dead, a phantump that hid in the shadows away from their battles, made it even weirder.

One day, he was courageous enough to ask all that he wanted. He had just learned the final secret skill and the phantump was the closest to him that it had ever been.

“Why do you have a phantump?”

The Hero’s Shade smiled, “he’s an old friend, someone I knew in a different life.”

The pokemon giggled, like it was some kind of joke.

“I’ve been watching over him since I was alive,” he said solemnly, “but now I have eased my regrets, and he has not. I can finally move on, once I know someone will be there to look after Shade.”

There was a hanging silence that took a while to break. Twilight realized what he was insinuating.

“You want me to to look after your pokemon?” He asked, “really?”

“He’s not mine, but yes,” the Hero’s Shade answered, “he is quite adept at fighting and...he has his own regrets to fulfill. Helping you finish your quest will allow him to pass on.”

The phantump, Shade, smiled at Twilight, begging for him to say yes. He was finally ready, he could finally do what he couldn’t all those years ago.

Twilight nodded, “I have a spot on my team. Shade, I’d be happy to have you.”

Shade cheered and he rushed over to his new caretaker. The Hero’s Shade smiled as the world faded around them.

“Go, and do not falter...”

He vanished in a puff of smoke and Twilight managed to make out a solitary mask crash onto the ground. He was a yamask this whole time, one that was very could at illusions and transformation masks.

When Twilight awoke in the real world, he found a freshly evolved Trevenant waiting for him to kill Ganon. After the quest was finished, like his mentor, the pokemon faded away with no more troubles holding it down.

A happy ending overall, allowing two weary souls to rest. Still...

How was Twilight supposed to say that the fact Time had a phantump was even more damning evidence of his inescapable doom? That’s why he couldn’t bare to look at the pokemon, a painful reminder that Time was on borrowed time.

-

Shade had buried himself behind a bush, peaking out innocently at the five eeveelutions in front of him. Two of them, an umbreon and an espeon, were sleeping side by side. A vaporeon and a leafeon were fighting, whether it was play or not was hard to tell. Finally, a flareon was messing with some flowers. Phantump wanted to play, but he had never interacted with Four’s pokemon before.

When Four initially joined the group, everyone found it odd that he had five pokemon that were constantly out. It seemed like they would’ve been a handful, but not for Four. All the eevees listened to him and they only acted up a couple of times.

“Only four of them are even mine,” he explained with a sad smile, “I’m watching the umbreon for a friend.”

“Won’t your friend miss his pokemon while you’re with us?” Hyrule asked.

He didn’t get a response. Four ignored him and went to play with the excitable flareon.

Back to the present, Shade was hesitant to reveal himself. The eevees were more physical than he was, their quick movements scared him, but they looked like they were having fun. He inched back as the flareon started to sniff around his bush.

“Barp!” The flareon yapped as it spotted the ghost.

“Ah!” Shade cried and shrunk into his stump.

The flareon poked at Shade, intrigued. After a while, when he sensed no danger, the phantump flew out of the bush. The other eevees took note of him, the leafeon and vaporeon taking a short break from fighting to watch him and the umbreon opened one eye lazily.

The flareon barked once more and directed his attention to his sleeping master. Four was laying against a tree and napping after a long day, but he was awoken by his pokemon licking his face.

“I’m up, I’m up!” He laughed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, “calm down, Flame. Oh, hi, Shade.”

Shade waved his nub of an arm.

“What do you want now, you gremlin?” Four lifted Flame above his head, “do you want your ball?”

“Barp!” That was a yes. Four set down the flareon and pulled out a bouncy ball from his bag. He tossed it and Flame moved his head, wanting Shade to play with him. Shade cried happily and the two ran off together somewhere.

Four looked at his other eevees, “Droplet, Wood, play nice.”

Droplet hissed and Wood reluctantly sat down. The espeon and umbreon were fully awake now and went to sit by him. Four rubbed the bottom of their chins.

“Morning, Light, Dark,” he recalled how he first met his beloved pokemon.

-

“LIIINNNNNKKKK!” The young Princess Zelda shouted from outside, jumping up and down, “WHERE ARE YOU?!”

Where he was was asleep in his bed. Link, before he became known as the Hero of the Minish and the Hero of the Four Sword, rolled over at the noise. Five more minutes...

“PIKA!” He felt a weak zap run through his entire body, waking him up in an instant.

“Ow!” He looked to see Zelda’s pikachu sitting on the floor with an open window beside it.

He huffed and yelled out the window, “I’m coming, you don’t need to send Lily!”

“Doubt it, hurry up!” He heard from outside as he got dressed, “the festival is starting.”

He soon ran out the door, calling quickly to his eevee, a gift from his grandfather, and met up with Zelda.

“Hello, Eevee,” she cooed and picked up the pokemon, “still have no name I see. Link is rubbish at naming, so that’s probably for the best.”

“You named your pokemon after the first flower you saw that day,” Link pointed out, ignoring the sparks growing around Lily.

“Doesn’t matter, let’s go! The sword fighting competition just ended and we need to be there when the Picori Blade comes out. I hear the winner this year was super powerful!”

For a Princess that was said to be blessed with wisdom, she fell for a lot of gossip. The winner was probably some hot shot who couldn’t beat a child in a fight. If not for Zelda with him, it would probably have been a boring day.

Boy, was he wrong. By the end of the day, Zelda and her pikachu were turned into stone, the Picori Blade was destroyed, and some mage was on the loose. To top it all off, Link had to fix it.

It was simple, in reality, concernedly so. With the help of a new friend named Ezlo and Eevee, he traveled around trying to collect some elemental stones and fixing the Picori Blade into something more powerful.

The newly forged Four Sword was a feat that no other smith could have done. He only wielded it for a short time in the fight against Vaati, but he could sense its promise.

Sadly he would never use it again, as it was used to seal the mage away.

Boy, was he bad at predicting how his life would go. Now there was a shadow in his likeness dragging him around. The shadow was taunting him, bringing him back to the Four Sword’s resting place.

There was no choice, he had no weapon and the only thing that could hurt creatures of darkness was light. He pulled the Four Sword and he felt his insides turn.

He opened his eyes to have four different perspectives. Link was now four separate people with the names Green, Red, Blue, and Vio. Eevee, who was with him at the time, became four identical eevees as well. The shadow just laughed.

The four Links decided to evolve their eevees now that Vaati was back and they had the shadow taunting them. With the elemental stones that made the Four Sword. Red gained his flareon Flame, Blue got his vaporeon Droplet, and Green got his leafeon Wood. Vio’s eevee had to stay normal until they found another way to evolve it.

They went on their journey and only experienced a few setbacks. They were separated and had no idea where anyone was. Vio defected to the side of the shadow and weirdly enough became good friends with him.

The shadow, or Shadow, was actually caring towards his allies, unlike Blue who just wanted to be in charge. The two talked and connected in a way he couldn’t with his brothers. Shadow’s own eevee got along well with Vio’s as well.

“I’m really glad we’re friends,” Shadow said one day before joking, “wouldn’t want you as my enemy.”

“Yeah,” Vio watched the sunset, “so we’re friends? I thought this was a ‘strategic team up’?”

“It can be both,” Shadow protested.

Vio laughed, but was interrupted by a ringing noise. The two turned around to see their lounging pokemon behind them start to glow.

“They’re evolving?” Vio realized. He watched as Light and Dark, as they began to playful name their pokemon, evolved into an espeon and umbreon.

They each picked up their pokemon, looking at them shocked. What had triggered the evolution.

“I guess we really are friends,” Shadow laughed.

“What?”

“These pokemon evolve based on friendship,” he reminded him, “at the very least we’re friends with our pokemon.”

Vio felt joy bloom in his chest, maybe Shadow wasn’t such a bad guy. He hugged Light closed, he almost didn’t want the charade to end.

Less than a month later he would betray Shadow. Another week and he was in possession of his dead friend’s umbreon, his final wish was for him to take care of Dark.

-

Shade squealed and ran back from his spot at the front of the group to Time. He looked nervous and was pointing frantically from where they were going.

“Is there something up there?” Time asked and received a nod. “A person?”

Another nod and the person came into view of the group. They looked like a trainer, a rare sight in Wild’s Hyrule, with three poke balls at his hip.

“Howdy, fellas!” The trainer waved, “any of you up for a battling?”

“We aren’t trainers,” Time told the man.

The trainer raised an eyebrow, “really? Y’all look like y’all could have the strongest team imaginable. This mimikyu looks mighty tough.”

Wild put a protective hand in front of Lethe. He was starting to no like this traveler. And strong was a bit of an oversight for all of their pokemon, ignoring Legend’s legendary, most of them as common pokemon. Hyrule had a raticate for crying out loud!

“I’ll battle!” Wind waved excitedly. Wind was the only one of them to be an actual trainer who collected various badges from across the timeline on their travels. Currently he had 30 badges, mismatched from the different times he ran into gyms.

“Great!” The trainer threw his poke ball, “go, tropius!”

Before the poke ball landed, Wild had knocked out the secret Yiga, trying to lure the Heroes into a battle. He pointed to Wind.

“No!” He glared.

“Seriously?” Wind stomped his foot, “couldn’t you have waited to knock him out after we battled.”

Time smiled as the two bickered over priorities and he place a hand gently on Shade. It was a good day.

Chapter Text

New Hyrule, New Link. That was the rule that they had followed up to seven times, so it must be true for the eighth. The eight Links stepped through a new found portal and discovered themselves in some pavilion.

“It’s so green,” Wind saw a sprawling field behind them and the portal. There were roads and other buildings, but for the most part this one section of the countryside was bigger than the entirety of New Hyrule, especially with just one field.

“We’re close to the castle,” Twilight noted, pointing to an impressive blue roofed building, “that might cause problems if monsters come through here.”

“Maybe we can ask the Princess for soldiers to watch out,” Warriors suggested, “at least until it closes again.”

“Then let’s start walking,” Time commanded, “Hyrule-“

Hyrule raised a finger to shush him. Silently, he pointed to behind a column, a column that seemed to be shaking. Leaning over slightly, Time could make out the figure of a small girl, no more than four years old, hiding.

“Hello there, miss,” he walked over and crouched down near her, “are you alright?”

The girl squeaked and looked up. Her wide eyes could be seen under her loose blonde hair. With no hesitation, she shouted.

“GUARDS! HELP!”

Scuttling knights ran into the pavilion and pointed there weapons at the group. Time moved away from the child and showed that, while armed, he held no weapons himself. A few of the knights stared at the portal with fear.

“Whatever you are thinking,” Legend started, raising his hands, “this is not that.”

Warriors smacked him on the head to shut him up. He hated to think what they thought was going on. A portal glowing with malice that caused eight men and boys to appear, they probably looked like demons.

“Princess Zelda,” a knight with a different outfit than the others, less armor and a dark blue motif, walked over to the girl, “are you alright?”

This was the Princess? At what point of history did they land in, because every Princess they had met so far were more or less the same age as them.

The girl nodded, taking his hand, “I was praying, like Papa told me too, and then they appeared.”

“Did they hurt you?”

“We would never!” Twilight felt offended at the idea.

“No,” she shook her head, “they didn’t know I was here. Who are they?”

“I do not know,” the knight started to walk away with the Princess, “but we will find out. Men!”

The Links had no time to react as the knights swarmed them. The few that didn’t have their hands up were forced to drop their weapons and have roped tied around their wrists. Most of them cooperated, not having any other option, but Legend made it difficult.

“Come near me and it will be your end,” he hissed before Warriors tripped him, “jerk!”

“Now is not the time,” Warriors glared and allowed the knight to take his sword, “we need to show that we are not a threat and you whining about it will get us nowhere.”

“Whatever,” Legend spat and was dragged away.

The only bright side of any of that was the fact that neither Wind or Four were bound. Their weapons were taken, but they were allowed to walk along freely without any restraints. The perks of looking like children, it seemed.

Sky also managed to keep his sword. No knight looked under his sail cloth where it was hidden.

They were marched along, away from the portal. A few stayed behind to watch it, which Time couldn’t figure out if that was a good or bad thing. They went in the opposite direction of that blue knight and the Princess, into a door on the west side of the Castletown wall. They soon found themselves in multiple jail cells, split into groups of two. They were the only occupants and were soon left alone.

“Why do I get arrested every time I come to Castletown!” Legend slammed his hands against the bars, “you kidnap one Princess!”

“Legend, you should probably not say that here,” Hyrule shared the cell with him.

Twilight had to agree that cells weren’t his favorite place to be. Time was accustomed to being held captive in poorer conditions, so he could at least appreciate having actual floors and not dirt or being pushed into the sea at sword point.

“It’s discriminating that they didn’t tie up my hands,” Wind huffed, “I am just as dangerous as any of you.”

“That is not something to brag about,” Four said from beside him, “but I am also annoyed that they see me as a child.”

“What do we do now?” Sky looked to Warriors.

“Protocol in my Hyrule dictates that they’ll take the leader of the group and interrogate them first,” he answered, “they’ll see we’re not a threat and let us go soon.”

“We stepped out of a portal right in front of the Princess,” Twilight argued, “they’ll think we’re attacking the kingdom. Unless we can prove otherwise, so...”

He looked at Sky from across the hallway. Sky took a while to notice what he was looking at.

“Me?” He pointed to himself, “why me? Why not Time? He’s the leader.”

“I am not the leader,” Time raised an eyebrow.

“You are, Mr. Actual Adult,” Legend yelled at him, “hate to break it to you, but all of our faults lie on you.”

“Yeah,” Wind added, “you should’ve stopped me when I tried to hold my breath for five minutes. Me passing out was your own fault.”

“I specifically remember trying to stop you.”

“We never said you were a good leader.”

“Regardless,” Twilight refused to listen to anymore of Time’s denial of being the dad of the group, “you have the Master Sword. That’s a quick way for them to know we aren’t a problem.”

Speak of the devil, a knight walked in and waved around some keys.

“Alright,” he was muffled a bit by his helmet, “which one’s of you is in charge.”

Simultaneously, seven Links pointed at Sky, leaving him standing alone at pointing to Time. He frowned as he was carried away to wherever.

A couple hours later, after night had already fallen, the Links were bolted awake by the scraping of a sword on stone. Twilight covered his ears and blinked his eyes until he finally made out an annoyed Sky standing in front of his now opened cell.

“Thanks for that,” he pouted, “you know I can’t handle questions alone.”

“It worked didn’t it?” Twilight crept out of his cell with Time close behind him, “it did work, right?”

“Took a while,” Sky finally smiled, “they believe me and the King wants to see us. A guard is waiting for us outside with our weapons and is ready to show us to the throne room.”

He put away the Master Sword and unlocked everyone else’s cells. All yawning and groaning, the Links walked away as free men. Outside the prison they found the guard, who seemed to be shaking? He was nervous the whole time they collected their swords and he couldn’t keep his eyes away from the Master Sword.

Following him up a long staircase and through an even longer hallway, they walked into a mostly empty throne room. The King, or that’s what they at least assumed he was, was siting above on a balcony. He had a long beard and, despite his tired eyes, but on a big smile.

“Ah, Heroes!” He waved his arms in a grand gesture, “it is wonderful to meet you.”

Sky introduced them, “this is King Rhoam, he’s currently ruling Hyrule alone. The girl we saw was his only daughter.”

“Your Majesty,” Warriors bowed and Legend resisted the urge to kick him in the butt.

“Rise, rise,” Rhoam chuckled, “I should be bowing to you, for all the legends we have heard of the many Heroes. My knights apologize for how they treated you, but the kingdom has been on guard ever since the prophet.”

“Prophet?” Legend questioned.

“Yes,” the King nodded, “a year ago it was prophesied that the Calamity, an ancient evil, would return. Along with the arrival of those who would help us in our time of need.”

Sky explained further, “he thinks the help is us, but he wouldn’t tell me why until I went and got you.”

“What do you need?” Four spoke up, “because we are sort of on our own mission-“

“I know,” Rhoam interrupted, “the Hero of the Skies told me of the shadow that you are chasing, but this is where our paths align. You see, we know what to do to prepare for the Calamity, have the Princess unlock her powers and have the Hero ready to fight for her. We have found the Hero, which I am told you need to find to help in your own quest.”

“That was easy,” Wind beamed, “where is he?”

“I shall call for him now,” he waved his hand and a the knight that brought them in ran out, “if we can make a deal. I would wish for you to train the Hero, so that we are prepared for whatever were to happen.”

“We can do that,” Time nodded.

A small knock the door, the knight reentered alone. He looked even more nervous.

“Uh, your Majesty,” he whimpered, “General Impa has requested that the Hero rest after today. He has been training since before dawn and fought a lynel-“

“He can rest later,” Rhoam slammed his fist on the throne’s armrest, “tell that Sheikah that she answers to me and not the other way around!”

“Y-yes, I will bring the Hero.”

A bitterness grew in Time’s throat. He didn’t like how the softness of the King’s voice turned into such harshness. How he said Sheikah, as if that was a bad thing, and the disregard for his own General’s opinions made him uneasy. He hoped that the Hero wasn’t in too bad of a condition.

“Apologies,” the King returned to his cherry self, “my General has been acting up as late. I must speak with her later on these matters.”

Warriors looked like he wanted to say something, but kept it inside. His respect for the Royal Family was only matched by his respect for any Impa he had met, especially the generals.

Then, the door opened a final time and someone walked in. It was stoic child covered in gauze and a bloody green tunic. His face showed no emotion, but the bags under his eyes and his uncertain steps revealed how tired he was.

“May I introduce,” the King stood up for the first time, “the Champion of Hyrule, Sir Link of Hateno.”

Time’s face fell as he looked at the four year old. No.

The last time he wanted to kill royalty that badly before was Ganondorf. This-this was a four year old, six years younger than him when he started, and he had already seen battle.

The child looked at them each individually before bowing low. No one moved as they tried to comprehend what was going on.

“Sky,” Time controlled his anger, letting no emotion seep into his voice, “did you know about this?”

The look on his face revealed that no, he did not. He looked to the King, face screwed in confusion.

“There must be a mistake,” Sky fumbled with his hands, “this, this is just a kid. Have you found the Master Sword yet?”

The King shook his head, “we are still looking for the sword, but there is no mistake. Ever since we have began training him, he has surpassed even the General herself in combat. There is no doubt that the Goddess has bless him.”

“How long have you been training him?” Warriors wanted to throw up.

“Every since we found him a year, almost a year and a half, ago.”

Warriors definitely was going to throw up. This King had a child, a two year old, training like a harden soldier. The youngest his Hyrule even allowed pages was age six.

Everyone was revolted and it was a miracle that no one had shut down right there. It was then that they realized that Link was still bowing.

“You don’t have to bow,” Wind scooted near him awkwardly. Link straightened up and was as still as a statue.

“F*ck this,” Legend was the first to voice his displeasure in a more obvious way, “this is wrong.”

“Excuse me?” The King took offense.

“F*ck this, f*ck that, f*ck you,” Legend doubled down on his swears, “this kid can’t be a Hero! Not right now! He’s bleeding for Hylia’s sake and you don’t even seem to care.”

“It is not my blood, Sir,” Link spoke softly. He was silent before anyone could realize it was him who said it.

“And that makes it better?” Legend pointed a finger at the King, “I’ve fought a lynel before and I know for a fact that no one, Hero or no, should be fighting one. You are not eve-“

“We’ll teach him.”

Legend stopped mid-rant to gape at Time. He said the words calmly and rationally.

“Seriously?” Legend growled, “you think this is ri-“

Time raised a hand to silence him, “we’ll teach him. Forgive my companion, it has been a long day.”

The King sat back down with a satisfied smile on his face, “I understand. I have heard about the humble origins of many a Hero, that is what brought your companion to such vulgar language.”

“Humble origins? You soN OF A-“

Time raised his hand again and Legend went to sulk near Hyrule. The obvious dig at most of their upbringings hit them hard, even Link bit his lip to keep himself from saying something.

“What will you require to train the Hero?” The Hero, not Link, just the Hero. It’s like the King didn’t even see him as a person. “You can have anything and all the time that you need.”

“Give us three days to work up a schedule,” Time said, “until then, let Link rest. He will need his energy for what I will have prepared.”

Rhoam agreed, “I will have a servant bring you all to the rooms you will stay in while training the Hero. Hyrule thanks you for your cooperation.”

Link was taken away by the knight and a maid walked in to take the Heroes. Once in their rooms, they all left to meet in Time’s. Legend practically slammed down the door as he was removing his armor.

“What the absolute sh*t, Old Man?” He shouted, “why are you complicit in this.”

Time didn’t even look at him, “calm down, we cannot afford to be thrown out of the castle for noise.”

“I’ll show you noise!”

“Time,” Sky smiled weakly, “while I won’t use Legend’s language, why? I wouldn’t have agreed to meet with the King if I knew...”

“Is this why you guys looked at me funny when you met me?” Wind realized, “I understand now, oh *my gods*.”

“Are you not mad?” Twilight was the most shocked, he knew how Time felt about young Heroes and he wasn’t particularly fond of them himself.

“Mad?” Time removed the last piece of his armor, “I am *livid*. Can you not tell?”

“Funny way of showing it.”

“I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic,” Four admitted.

“I am not,” he shook his head.

“Then why agree to train the Hero?” Hyrule asked.

“Do you think anything would change with how Link is living if we said no?”

Silence.

Time sighed, “this way we can make sure he is treated properly. I can’t just stand aside as this is happening without doing something, but this King is not the kind to understand when he is wrong. We have to do this covertly.”

“You’ve thought this out,” Twilight stated, “what’s the plan?”

“I am glad you asked. Sky, I am going to need you to talk to the King some more, if that is possible...”

-

Threes later and they were ready. They spent their time wisely, formulating a way to help this new Link and while figuring out how to do their quest. Half of them were on the Link mission and the other half were on the quest mission.

For the quest mission, Twilight would go out scouting Hyrule Field for any monsters that could be corrupted, though no spawned. Hyrule and Legend watched over the portal together and tried to find a way to either close it or move it away from the city. Four asked around town about if anything strange was going on.

For the Link mission, it was hectic. Time would tell no one what he was planning, only telling the last three what to do and when. Sky was to shadow the King whenever he could and talk to him about his Hyrule. Luckily, Rhoam was very interested in hearing more about the founding of the kingdom, especially about the first Zelda, Hylia reborn. Wind was to map out the castle and mark down the ins and outs, places where someone like him could escape out of at a moments notice. That left Warriors to get familiar with the soldiers of the castle and to talk with General Impa.

It was a long and stressful three days, but, on the dawn of the fourth, they waited in an empty training room for the Hero. Legend was taking his anger out on some training dummies while the others tried to get Time to open up on his secrets.

He ignored all of them and spoke with Warriors, “what did Impa say?”

“The General is making sure Link is eating enough breakfast and should be bringing him any second now,” Warriors answered, “are you sure this is right?”

Time nodded, “yes. Trust me...I’m the leader after all.”

“Now he admits it,” Twilight laughed.

They all flinched when the door opened.

Thankfully, it was just Sky. He ran in with a happy expression on his face, which contrasted with everyone else’s dour looks. He smiled as he whispered something to Time. Time also smiled at the news.

“All is going according to plan,” he proclaimed and explained no more.

Minutes later, the door opened again to reveal three people. The most obvious was General Impa, who’s face held an amused smirk, and she nodded in respect to Time. At her side were Link and the Princess.

“I leave them in your hands, Hero of Time,” Impa walked out once the two were safely in, “I will distract his Majesty for as long as you need.”

“Thank you, Impa.”

The two children stood there awkwardly when the door shut behind them. Like when they had first met, Link stared into the distance and was waiting for orders. The Princess glanced that them every once in a while, but refused to say anything.

“Why is the Princess here?” Four asked, “I thought we were just in charge of Link.”

“We were,” Time set his weapon against the wall, “until...”

“Time had me drop hints that I knew a lot about Her Grace’s powers,” Sky picked up the sentence, “so now we are also to help Princess Zelda with her sealing powers.”

Legend walked over to the group, crossing his arms, “I still don’t see plan. I’ve seen how this King treats the Hero, I don’t want to know how he treats his daughter. This is just getting worse and worse.”

“That’s the point,” Sky said, “these two have been pushed to the breaking point. They don’t need training, they need to be kids.”

“What?”

Time kneeled before the Princess and smiled kindly at her, “I am sorry if I scared you days ago.”

“It was, no, you do not need to apologize, Sir Hero of Time,” she stuttered out her words.

“Just Time will do,” he told her, “what do you wish to be called. I know it is customary for us to address you as Princess, but would you prefer Zelda.”

She peaked out from under her hair, “Zelda was my Mama’s name, that’s why Papa says he wants people to call me Princess. He doesn’t want to hear her name.”

“But what do you want to be called? I promise to not tell you father.”

She smiled hopefully, “I want to hear my Mama’s name. Zelda, please.”

“It is nice to meet you, Zelda,” Time shook her hand, which she took excitedly. “Now, Sky is going to explain some things to you right now, he’s the man with the Master Sword.”

“Yes, Sir-Time,” Zelda hopped off to Sky, who took her hand and walked her over to a secluded corner of the room.

“I didn’t know you were good with children,” Legend said, shocked. He definitely judged too quickly.

Time ignored him and turned his attention onto Link. He could already tell this was going to be hard when he bowed at him.

“Sir,” Link spoke softly but firmly, “what is the training today?”

He spoke like a soldier, not like a kid.

“Rise,” Time shook his head, “and just answer me this. Have you done any training in the past three days?”

No hesitation, immediate response to a superior’s orders, or what he saw as a superior’s order. He spoke plainly and simply.

“Yes, Sir. Training from four in the morning to eleven at night, the usual time as always.”

Time gritted his teeth, he knew Rhoam wouldn’t actually give the kid a break. He could read the King like a book with just one look at him.

“Then today’s training is the most important of all,” Time stood up, “today you will be sleeping.”

“Sir?” He asked.

“Everyone needs at least eight hours of sleep, which you have not been getting,” Time explained, “lack of sleep is just as dangerous as lack of training.”

“But the King-“

“Is not here, he will not know,” Warriors assured him, “if it makes you feel better, we’ve gotten permission from the General on all of our ‘training’ with you.”

“Now,” Time handed the kid a pillow, “rest, that is an order.”

Link took the pillow like it was the most fragile thing in the whole world, “t-thank you, Sir.”

“You don’t have to call any of Sir, we are equals.”

Warriors lead him over to the opposite end of the training room from Zelda and Sky and made sure he was comfortable. All of the stress and tension dropped out of Link’s body as he immediately crashed.

Legend looked down at the ground, “I’m sorry, I misjudged you.”

Time smirked triumphantly.

-

“You know Her Grace?” Zelda looked amazed at the news. She had been told by Impa that the Heroes who were visiting were the things of myths, but she didn’t realize it was that literal.

Sky nodded, “but she prefers to be called Zelda, like you do.”

“She must be amazing,” she frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

Zelda looked around, like she wanted to make sure no one heard her, before whispering in a not so quiet way.

“I can’t hear Her,” she stated, her voice quivering, “does she hate me? I’ve done what Papa said to do, I pray.”

Sky grimaced internally, this is what he hated the most about Rhoam. Over the days spent with the man, Sky had learned that he had strong expectations on his daughter, that was caused by the passing of his wife. He thought that all of Hyrule relied on her learning her powers as young as possible.

“Zelda,” he started, “you don’t have to hear Her Grace, I know she is very proud of you.”

Zelda sniffled, “then why does she not talk to me?”

“I don’t know, I’m a bit out of my time, but it definitely isn’t because you are doing something wrong.”

“But Papa said Mama heard Her,” she pushed, “that means I should, too.”

Sky tilted his head, “and what did your Mama say?”

She played with her hair, “that she would tell me when I was older.”

Then she probably didn’t hear Her Grace at all. From what Sky learned about the Royal Family from the other Links was that they tried to boost their credibility by saying they heard the gods. They had the powers, but they needed a reason to have them except for just being born.

“Do you want to know a secret?” Sky leaned forward and Zelda nodded furiously, “my Zelda, Her Grace, couldn’t control her powers either.”

She pushed away, “you’re lying!”

“I’m not,” Sky laughed, he wouldn’t’ve believed it if someone told him that a couple of years ago either, “I grew up with her and she had to go on a long journey before awakening her powers. She was sixteen, and how old are you?”

“Four...”

He pushed her hair out of her face, “then you are already ahead of Her Grace at your age. I think you deserve some rest.”

“But Papa said-“

“Does your Papa know Hylia?” Sky interrupted, “no. Her Grace would agree with everything I’m saying. So...”

He bopped her on the nose, much to her shock. She looked at him in confusion, wondering what that was.

“Tag!” Like a child, Sky booked it, a squealing Zelda at his heels.

-

Eight hours later, they had finished a remarkable training session. The whole time Sky and Zelda played various games, sometimes including the other Links in. Link himself slept softly in the corner, sometimes flinching before becoming still once more. Everyone else did some actual training or talked.

Halfway through a servant had brought them all food and was perplexed by how excited they had seen the Princess. They ended up paying it no mind and decided it was best to never mention this to the King.

Once eight hours was up, General Impa came back to take the children back. Link was to report to his barracks, everyone tried to not think about him being there, and Zelda was to dine with her father. At the sight of Impa, Zelda’s face fell.

“What do I tell Papa?” She looked up to Sky, who was holding her hand.

“That you didn’t hear anything,” he told her calmly, “tell him that I told you everything I know about Hylia today and that we will be getting into powers once you know that.”

“Okay, Sky. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Your Highness,” Impa smiled and spoke to Time, “I trust that training was a success.”

Time chuckled, “fraid to say that these two might need more training with us if they are to save Hyrule.”

Impa nodded, “I shall tell the King. Same time tomorrow.”

The three left, Zelda waving at everyone and Link looking well rested and wearing a hint of a smile.

-

They decided that they could hold off on their mission for the time being, the portal causing no issue so far, and stayed in this new Hyrule. Days turned into weeks and into months and the Heroes became well known in Castletown. Of course, no one but those in the castle knew who they were.

Sky became, in the public’s eyes, the Princess’ new knight. He used a different sword than the Master Sword out in public and was seen watching over Zelda when her father forced her to pray outside of the castle.

Warriors and Twilight became part time trainers with the army, both having plenty of experience teaching others to do it. Legend and Hyrule were researching the history of the Hyrule to figure out where in the timeline they were and where the Master Sword was, but everything was sort of jumbled. Time spent all of his time either with Link or hounding off the King.

Wind and Four, on the other hand, were beyond annoyed. No one believed that Four was an adult and no one knew of their deeds as Heroes, so they were kind of tossed to the side. They sat around bored most days, sometimes messing with the nobles that frequented the castle.

As for training, as much as he hates to do it, Time had to teach Link something. The King still sent him out on missions to clear out monsters, much to Time’s complaints, so he needed to know how to fight. Time was far less rigorous than Link’s old teachers, though, and he knew when to give him rest.

Zelda was a different matter. While Sky was technically training her, she was required to visit places outside of the castle for various reasons and only stayed with the Links every other couple of days. When with them, Sky told her stories of his home and the other deities he met.

Together, the Princess and the Hero interacted a bit. They talked during meals and play time, but it was mostly one sided. Whatever silence that was instilled in Link was growing worse by the day and none of them could figure out the cause.

It was one of these days when something snapped.

“Fi was created by Hylia,” Sky was explaining to both Link and Zelda one day, “she inhabits the Master Sword. She’s dormant now, but she’s still there.”

“Hi, Fi!” Zelda giggled, waving to the sword. Link stared at the blade with interest, saying nothing.

“I met her, too,” Warriors added, “she was fierce on the battle field, but what do you expect from an actual sword.”

“Is there any way to wake her u-“

“CODE BOAT!” Wind ran in screaming from outside the doors, slamming this shut quickly, “CODE BOAT! THE BOAT IS IN THE HARBOR!”

“Why did we go with that?” Legend asked, picking up his sword.

Four shrugged, “you said no to Code Ghost.”

“How close is he?” Time asked Wind, keeping his eye on the door.

“He just left his office,” he explained out of breath, “I think someone told him what we were, or really what we weren’t doing. He looked pissed.”

“Papa’s coming?” Zelda stood up, trembling, “he’s mad?”

Link jumped to his feet and pulled out his own sword. The fear in his eyes was hidden behind the blade. He knew what there was to lose if the King found out that they hadn’t been training for nearly a year.

“What do we do?” Sky pulled the two close protectively.

“Worse comes to worse,” Time heard footsteps behind the door, “Plan Boss Key.”

“Who named these things?”

Wind did. He was very bored.

The door slammed open, and King Rhoam stood there furious.

“Your Majesty,” Time said like there was nothing wrong, “is something the matter.”

“You have been deceiving me,” Rhoam pointed a finger accusingly, “for months.”

Time shrugged, “I have no idea what you are talking about. Everything we have been doing as been overseen by your General.”

The King sneered, “she too as been going against my word. Now, I know what you have been doing, or more aptly not doing, and it is time for you to leave. Heroes or no.”

Legend feigned a yawn, “shame, started to like this place. It was almost as impressive as my time’s castle, but, eh, guess we’ll go. C’mon Link, Zelda, gotta still ‘train’ you for the apocalypse.”

“Zelda!” Rhoam boomed, said girl shaking behind Sky at the noise, “come here this instant.”

She walked forward, obeying her father. She was stopped after taking a few steps by Sky’s hand on her shoulder.

“No,” Sky glared at the King.

“Excuse yo-“

“No,” he repeated, “if you will be continuing to treat Zelda and Link the way you are now, then we don’t trust you to be with them.”

“I AM KING!” The King barked.

“AND I FOUNDED YOUR DAMN BLOODLINE!” Sky shouted back. He froze as realization dawned on him. He crouched down and looked at Zelda.

“I have to go to Papa,” she whispered.

“Do you trust me, us?” She nodded. “Then I need to go away for a bit. Until then, the others will be taking care of you and Link. Can you do it? Link, can you?”

Zelda took Link’s hand when Sky backed away from them. Link squeezed her hand in comfort, the only thing he could do in silence.

“Rhoam,” Sky spat, readying his blade for the possibility, “I am giving you one last chance to move aside.”

“Guards!” The King shouted and they had a few seconds before they swarmed.

“Plan Boss Key?” Wind perked up, Sky nodded.

“Added with Plan Hyrule 2.”

“I still don’t like that name,” Hyrule mumbled.

“How long?” Warriors looked in his supply bag that he alway kept on him, “we probably have enough rations for two days.”

“I can make it back in one,” he hoped. A week would be best, but if he didn’t sleep and ran all the way, no stopping for even a second, he could theoretically.

The guards appeared, the King slinking into the background and away from the fighting. Everyone knew the plan and was ready.

Zelda closed her eyes and, when she opened them, they were locked in the training room with eight Heroes and Link. All the guards were gone and there was no sign of her father.

Warriors banged on the door and smiled, “Plan Boss Key worked!”

-

The plans that the Links made were many, they had to be sure that Zelda and Link were safe.

Code Boat was their warning for if the King was onto them. It was named after the King of Red Lions, Wind explained that that was because he hid his true self. Four had suggested Code Ghost because he knew two different Kings’ ghosts.

Plan Boss Key was where they could lock themselves in a room and await backup. Sky would be the one to get the backup after blocking a door using the Master Sword. Only a Hero could pick up the blade, so no one could get in or out. Wind was inspired to name is so after the boss keys in dungeons, requiring a battle to get behind the big door.

Plan Hyrule 2 was named after Hyrule’s Hyrule and monarchy. He had two Princess Zeldas, so there were two different plans that were based off them. Plan Hyrule 1 would be when someone would ask for help from the Zelda of the time, which was not an option here. Plan Hyrule 2 was when one of them would run through the portals and find another Zelda.

Plan Hyrule 2 and Plan Boss Key ended up working perfectly in tandem when, 20 hours later, a tired Sky opened the locked training hall to free the Heroes and the Princess.

He smiled weakly, “she’s with the King now.”

Legend grinned, “he’ll be dead in five minutes.”

“What is going on?” Zelda looked to Link and the others for answers.

Sky spoke first, “do you want to met Her Grace?”

Her eyes widened, “yes.”

-

The Heroes lead the children to the throne room where shouting could be heard. As much as Sky wanted to see the fighting, he was too tired to do anything but pass out onto the floor. To make sure he was safe from any passing guards, Wild operated Plan Boss Key and they would let him out later.

“You treat your child like this!” Sun, Sky’s Zelda, was reprimanding when they walked in. The King was on the ground level, no longer high above everyone, but, on the contrary, seemed to be cowering below the goddess reborn. “You clearly were married into this family because no descendant of mine would act like this.”

“Listen here-“ The King was immediately silenced by Sun raising her hand.

“No, stop talking, forever,” she shushed him and spun around, “hello, fellas! It is wonderful to see you again. Now, are these the two I was brought to see?”

She ran over to Zelda and Link with a big smile on her face. A couple of the Heroes went to push the King out of the room while she did what she wanted.

“Y-your Grace,” Zelda stuttered and Link bowed deeply.

“Just call me Zelda, or Sun,” Sun explained, “Sky told me that you two were in trouble and I had to come help. Do you want to see something cool?”

They both nodded.

“We’re going back to my time so you can see the founding of Hyrule. I think that would help in your ‘training’ a lot.”

“NOW WAIT JUST-“

The King was finally pushed out of the room.

“The goddess commands it,” she giggled and lead the children away to where the portal was. They were going to love the loftwings.

Chapter Text

This event was so stuffy, Hyrule didn’t like it. Nobles everywhere and everything had to be the cleanest thing possible. As someone who loved a good dungeon, he didn’t like the trapped feeling he gained from being forced into this party. 

Why was it Legend who convinced him to go?

A little while ago they reappeared in his Hyrule, which would start to be confusing, and Hyrule immediately ran to the castle to check on his Princesses. He left without warning and they had no idea where he was, the cultists could’ve gotten him and they wouldn’t’ve known. He apologized to the two, lying that he had visited some friends in a distant country and they came back with him. He didn’t want to worry them about nine Links when two Zeldas were almost too much.  

Unluckily for him, he arrived a couple days before some party celebrating a foreign noble of Calatia. The Princesses were adamant about him going, since he was the Hero of Hyrule and also, technically, a citizen of Calatia. It would look bad if he didn’t show up for at least a second. 

And that’s where he jumped out a window, scaled down a tower, and went to hide in his cave. The Links found him asleep under some blankets a couple hours later.

“Man up, Hyrule,” Warriors scoffed, “a little party is nothing.”

“Speak for yourself,” Hyrule murmured, smothering himself with his softest blanket, “you chose the life of the upper class. I would much rather dig a hole and never see another rupee ever again.”

“Gotta say,” Legend leaned his elbow onto the cave wall, “never took you for a coward.”

His eyes widened and his hands clenched, “what?”

Warriors raised an eyebrow at the rat, “isn’t that taking it a little too far. Don’t you also hate royal parties?”

He smirked, “oh, Hylia, I hate them. If I could never go to another one, I would do anything, but I’m not a coward.”

“Legend?” Hyrule slowly came out of his bundle. 

Legend shrugged, “one thing I’ve learned, the bravest thing a Hero can do is deal with these parties. The worst battleground is nobles. You should go.”

“What’s so brave about dressing like a monkey to dance like a monkey?”

“The last party I went to, I put on pants.”

Hyrule gasped, he didn’t know that was possible. Legend always wore either a skirt or a dress, no exceptions. The fact he forced himself into pants showed either just how much he hated parties or how strong he could be to push his ego aside for one night. 

Legend was looking at him for an answer. Hesitantly, he spoke. 

“I-I can’t dance…”

“I’ll teach you.” 

Warriors stood up straight, “what? You? You can dance?”

Legend was sharing a lot that day. He nodded. 

“I am a prince,” he stated the obvious, “and you have met my sister, she forces me to these events all the time. I might not act like it, but I can get to your level, Captain. What do you say, kid?”

Hyrule stood up, “one condition, you have to be my plus one.”

The disgust on his face was hilarious, but, strangely, he agreed. 

“Wait, what?” Hyrule backed up, “I thought you would say no.”

Legend grabbed his arm, “I wish, but I need someone else to know my pain. C’mon.”

And that’s how Hyrule was now where he was. Dressed in a green suit, hair neatly combed, while still being as fluffy as ever, and struggling to breathe in such a crowded space. Legend was with him, actually wearing pants, dressed like the prince he was. Both outfits were curtesy of the Hyrule Royal Family. Legend was chatting idly with Princess Zelda the XXII, being a perfect gentleman. 

Hyrule knew he was a prince, but how? How was he so comfortable in this situation, or at least was able to not show his discomfort. Hyrule wasn’t meant for this life, he could not express enough that he lived in a cave. Maybe he could sneak off and no one would notice-

“Link!” A bubbly voice popped up and appeared in his sight, “I finally found you!”

It was Princess Zelda the First, or that was her title since Hyrule found out that there were many more Zeldas before her. She had been woken up less than a year ago and she was looking well adjusted. She was smiling happily, being the life of the party and making all who saw her blessed. 

“O-oh, h-hey, your H-highness,” he stuttered out, bowing.

She giggled, “you don’t need to bow, Link, don’t be silly! And call me Zelda.”

He stood up, eyes quickly glancing at the other Princess Zelda. Legend had since left and she was now talking to the noble from Calatia. Princess Zelda the First saw his look and momentarily dropped her smile. 

“That would be hard, wouldn’t it?” She admitted, “it has been seven months, but I’m still not used to this life.”

“C-could’ve tricked me,” Hyrule complimented her, wanting to cheer her up. 

“Thank you,” her smile returned, “there are so many people I have yet to meet. I knew some of these families when they were first made nobles, and now…now I’m a legend to them! It’s kind of exciting.”

Hyrule could attest to that, their first meeting was magical to say the least. The same effect happened when he first met Legend, he knew of him from stories and it was incredible to meet him. 

The shock wears off after seeing your hero step on his own sword and swear like a sailor. 

Princess Zelda the First, on the other hand, never lost her mythical quality. She was part of a time that was unknown to anyone but herself, yet she slipped into the new era easily. She was exactly how everyone imagined her to be, sweet, calm, nice. She was beautiful, stunning, in Hyrule’s opinion. Even staring at her right now made him and his adventures seem small. 

He felt someone lean on his shoulder, it was Legend. The Prince smiled at the Princess. 

“May I steal the Hero for a moment, your Highness,” he asked. 

She looked disappointed, like she wanted to talk more, “of course. See you later, Link.”

Legend nodded his thanks and dragged Hyrule away into an empty hallway. 

“Thank you!” Hyrule gasped, “I didn’t know how much longer I could survive.”

“What was that!?” Legend shouted suddenly, dropping his royal persona. 

“What was what?” He asked, “I told you, I’m no good at these events-“

“I’m not talking about how you stick out like a sore thumb,” Legend waved off what he was saying, “I mean how you were talking to the Princess.”

The Princess? That’s how he usually talked to the upper class, he just got so nervous when doing so that he stuttered. He told Legend as much. 

He rolled his eyes, “please, the eyes you are giving her are so obvious. Me and Zelda number a million have a bet for when you two get together.”

“W-what?” Hyrule coughed, “that’s not-I don’t-no! I don’t feel about her Highness that way.”

“Sure you don’t, and I’m not mentally scarred by a whale.”

“What?”

“The point is,” Legend placed a hand on his shoulder, “if you like her, ask her to dance. She clearly likes you, so go for it.”

“No, she doesn’t, who would like me?” Hyrule looked at the ground, dejected. 

“Seriously?” Legend smacked him upside the head, gaining a small ‘ow’, “you saved her from eternal sleep! She kissed you right after it-“

“She was just so excited to be awake, it didn’t mean anything!”

“Regardless, she hasn’t lifted her eyes off you since we’ve arrived.”

“Why do you care? Why would you want me to?” Hyrule continued to protest, but no longer trying to deny that he felt something for the Princess, “isn’t she like your great niece or something?”

“Congrats, you have the uncle’s permission,” he gave sarcastic jazz hands, “let’s try something. Imagine you are back in that room, before you woke her up, what would you do?”

“I would wish on the triforce, obviously,” he answered immediately. 

“What if you didn’t have the triforce?”

“I would find it? Legend, what is the point-“

“What if you couldn’t find it?”

“I would ask Impa-“

“And what if Impa was dead?”

“Legend…”

“A million things could’ve happened to stop you from waking her up,” he stopped asking questions and went on a rant, “you could’ve died, she could’ve been killed right after you saved her. The triforce might not’ve worked, the gods could just hate you. You could be apart of the dream that she was having and not even be real!”

He took a deep breath, “I couldn’t wake up my…I couldn’t wake her up. I couldn’t live the life I wanted with her, but you can! She’s real, she’s awake, and she feels the same way about you that you do her. So?”

Hyrule was stunned, Warriors had told him of the possibility of Legend having an old girlfriend, one that had red hair and sang, one that reminded him of Malon. He didn’t know that she was asleep as well. There was much more to the story, though.

“Do…do we need to talk?” He asked slowly. 

Legend shook his head, “another time, kid. Just go out there, ask her to dance.”

Hyrule fiddled with his fingers, “did you drag me here just to get me to dance with her Highness.”

He smiled, patting him on the back, “according to Zelda number a million, she has been pining after you since you saved her. Figured it’d be faster to get you two together sooner than later.”

“How much is the bet?”

“100 rupees if I can get you two together tonight. Don’t disappoint me, kid.”

The two reentered the party and immediately split up at the door. Legend gave a quick ‘good luck’ and went back to Princess Zelda the XXII, who accepted his hand to a dance of their own. 

Hyrule scoured the room for her Highness, running away from any noble that wished to speak to him. He knew none of them, they just wanted the honor of speaking to the Hero of Hyrule. 

Finally, he found her, she was hiding behind some curtains, but she immediately perked up at seeing him.

“You’re back,” she stepped forward before stopping herself, “your friend seems nice.”

“He’s…something,” he glanced behind him to see Legend glaring at him from the dance floor, “your H-highness-Zelda?”

“Yes?” She rocked on her heels hesitantly. 

“W-would you l-like to d-danc-“

He didn’t have time to finish his sentence before the Princess grabbed his hand and lead him to the center of the room. In a delicate motion she placed her hand on his back, indicating that she would be the one leading. 

Thank Hylia, Hyrule thought, he was absolute rubbish at dancing still. 

The band’s song changed to slow one and the singer started in silence, setting the mood for one of the final songs of the night. It was getting late. 

Who am I to say, what any of this means?

“So,” the Princess started, taking one step forward and Hyrule followed, “your friends, where did you say they are from?”

“Um, they’re,” he thought up a lie, or at least a variation of the truth, “here and t-there. W-wind’s from some islands, S-sky too.”

“I hope you are having fun,” she stated, “I’ve been worrying nonstop ever since you left. I thought that, that those people had got you.”

“N-not a chance,” he laughed weakly. 

I have been sleepwalking since I was fourteen.

“S-so,” he continued, “learn anything new recently?”

If Legend could’ve heard him he would smack him, but he had nothing else to say. 

“Yes, actually!” She beamed, “me and Zelly visited a country in the north and I saw the most amazing thing!”

Now as I write my song, I retrace my steps.

“It was almost like magic,” she explained as they spun idly, “the sky was pitch black and then lights started appearing. There were so many colors, red, blue, green! It was breathtaking.”

“What were the lights?” He asked, “actual magic?”

Honestly, it’s easier to let myself forget.

“No, and that’s the best part! It’s happens most of the year there regularly. They’re called the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis.”

“I would love to see that,” his stutter finally faded into the background.

“Maybe…” she smiled, out of nowhere she twirled him in a dip and was leaning over him, hair falling over her shoulder gently, “maybe you can come with us next time.”

“W-well, um, you s-see,” and his stutter was back as he blushed red, probably recreating the Aurora Borealis on his cheeks.

Still I check my vital signs, choked up I realize…

The Princess let him back up and they continued. 

“I have a mission,” he frowned, “me and my friends have to go do something.”

“Oh,” she said softly, “when you get back then? I promise I won’t fall asleep on you until then.”

She laughed at her own joke. Hyrule admired her confidence in being able to joke about her age long imprisonment. 

…I’ve been less than half myself for more than half my life.

Legend was right, he was a coward. Why couldn’t he just tell her how he felt? Why did he have to go with the others right now?

He stared at her face and she looked at the floor, sadness creeping in despite the smile that she held. Her reddish hair was shimmering in the candle lights, her blue eyes sparkled like sapphires, and the green jewelry she wore could not try to compare themselves to her. 

He didn’t need to see the Aurora Borealis. His Aurora was right here. 

Wake up.

“Zelda?” 

“Yes, Link?” She returned her gaze to look him in the eye. 

“Do you remember when we first met?”

Fall in love again.

She giggled, “of course I do! It was the best day of my life. I was saved, and I met you.”

“R-right,” he was stupid, “I just wanted to ask you…”

Wage war on gravity, there’s so much worth fighting for you’ll see.

“Yes?”

“Would, would you ever want to go back to your original time?” He chickened out. 

She thought for a moment, “I don’t think so.”

“Why?” He was shocked at the answer. 

Another domino falls, either way.

“That time is gone,” she replied, “I have to accept that. Also, I meant it when I said meeting you was the best day of my life.”

It looks like empathy, to understand all sides…

“I’m h-honored,” Hyrule choked on his words. 

…but I’m just trying to find myself in someone else’s eyes.

He stared into her brilliant eyes, eyes that had seen infinity and nonexistence at the same time.

So show me what to do, reset this heart of mine.

“Zelda, I-“

How do I forgive myself, for losing so much time.

“Link…”

“I-“

Wake up, fall in love again and again and again.

Without warning once more, the Princess took the lead. Grabbing his collar she pulled him in closer and kissed him fiercely. 

The Aurora lights really were beautiful.

-

The party stopped to watch the Princess Zelda of Legends and the Hero of Hyrule embrace each other. They quickly went back to their own business, sans Princess Zelda the XXII and the secret Hero of Legend. 

“100 rupees, your Highness?” He led her away on his arm. 

She scoffed, “you interfered, I think that qualifies as cheating.”

“We never set any rules. Know one thing about me, I always win my bets.”

“Whatever you say,” the Princess smiled at her ancestor’s blissful expression, “worth every rupee.”

Chapter Text

“Please be empty, please be empty,” Legend whispered to himself and immediately swore once he opened his door.

After traveling some more, meeting other Zeldas and the like in different worlds, the group finally ended back in Legend’s. Last time they were here Ravio had crashed over, but he really didn’t need more bunny problems right now. He could still hear everyone’s laughter from when he tripped into Twi and turned into a bunny last week.

Good news! There was no purple bunny in his house. Bad news! There was a purple bunny *and* a green bunny.

“LINK, LINK, LINK!” A small figure rammed himself into Legend before the swear left his mouth, “you’re back!”

“What have I told you about-“ he groaned as he was forced into a hug. He glared at Ravio, who was inside and was pretending not to notice. “You were supposed to be watching him.”

Ravio twiddled with his sleeves, “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“You ditched me!” The boy stopped the hug and slapped Legend, strangely strong for a boy his age.

“Brat,” Legend rubbed his arm.

“Jerk!”

The eight other Links watched this interaction. They looked at the newcomer and saw what he looked like when he wasn’t harassing the salty hero.

He was about thirteen, only slightly older looking than Wind. He was wearing pajamas, green ones that were vaguely reminiscent of a certain garb, and his shoes looked too big for him. He had a hood on that had a red feather in it and matched the look of Ravio’s a tiny bit. Where Legend’s hair was spiky, the boy’s hair fluffed up and shimmered. His wide blue eyes couldn’t hide the joy that his frown covered up.

“So,” Wild spoke up first, “who’s the little guy?”

“He’s-get off-everyone,” Legend pushed the boy at an arms length from him and rolled his eyes, “this is my younger brother, Link.”

“SIBLINGS! SIBLINGS!” “Another Link?” “Hold up, you have how many clones now?” “Why is he called Link?”

“You didn’t tell them about me?” Link whimpered.

“No,” Legend sneered back, “how do you even know about them?”

“Ravio.”

“RAVIO!” Cue Ravio jumping into a portal and shimmying away. Legend slapped himself in the face. “Fine, but you didn’t need to come with. That’s why I left you with Zelda. Speaking of...”

Link looked guilty, “I might’ve ran away from the castle when the rumors that you came back a while ago happened. Found a new portal and jumped in.”

“That is dangerous,” he growled, “you had no idea what was on the other side.”

“My brother was on the other side and that’s all I needed to know!” Link suddenly screamed, though it came out really shrill, “you need to stop treating me like a child!”

“You are a child!”

“So are you! You’re barely seventeen!”

The group watched as the siblings got angrier and angrier. Legend’s face became emotionless a couple of minutes in and Link’s eyes started to tear up.

“It’s like you don’t even care about me!” Link continued, “every time I turn around, you’re gone and the next thing I know is you’re the savior of some other country.”

“I do care, that’s why you need to stay with Zelda. She can protect you.”

“Bold words for someone who’s been kidnapped five times. Some of which I helped save her, by the way.”

“Link...”

“I am the Hero of Legend!” Link stomped his foot on the ground, “goddess chosen and you should treat me with the respect I deserve.”

“Wait, Legend?” Twilight stared at the child. The name, no doubt, indicated a hard life, but having a title...having a title that was already taken...what was going on?”

“Sh*t,” Legend’s face regained some emotion as he kneeled to comfort his crying brother. Link was sniffling and rubbing his eyes like crazy. “Link, c’mon bud, don’t cry...”

“Legend, what does he mean by-“ Four was silenced by a sharp glare.

“Go find a room at Kakariko,” he told them, “tell them to put it on my tab. No, you don’t have to pay me back.”

“Are you sure?” Warriors noted the lack of concern for his cash, a very un-Legend like trait.

“You heard him,” Time cleared his throat, “we’ll meet back tomorrow morning.”

Everyone shuffled off and the two brothers were left alone. When the sight was clear, Legend pulled his brother close and hugged him, rocking him until the sobs quieted to nothing.

“I’m-I’m a hero, too,” Link hiccuped.

“I know, buddy, I know,” Legend admitted sadly, “doesn’t mean I have to like it. I just want you to be safe.”

“Please don’t leave me,” he clutched Legend’s cap strongly, “not again. I can’t lose anyone else, I already lost...”

The tears returned stronger than ever.

“I know, *I know*,” there wasn’t anything else to say, because he did know. His brother went through the exact same things as him, yet he never turned cold to the world like he had. Every loss, they shared together, every death or sacrifice...

“Let’s go to bed,” he slowly dragged Link inside and shut the door.

The next morning was a cheery one. The sun shined and the birds chirped and Legend wished he was still asleep, so a normal morning in Hyrule, post-post apocalypse.

Link, on the other hand, bounced back quickly after the night before. He jumped out of bed and didn’t bother to change out of his pajamas once more. He had a brand, after all, and that brand was looking homeless, just like his older brother.

“Link!” He shoved his brother, “get up!”

Legend slammed his head into his pillow, “five more minutes.”

Link shrugged, this was the normal morning routine for them.

There was a knock at the door, Link looked through the window and saw his brother’s friends.

“Your friends are back!” He called.

“Tell them I’m dead...”

“Okay,” Link opened the door, “Link’s dead.”

“What?” The shortest one said.

“Good riddance,” Warriors smiled, “never liked the fellow.”

“Come in,” Link opened the door for them to intrude and he ran to sit on Legend’s back.

“Ow, brat!” He shouted as he was hit with a pillow, “what was that for?”

“Five years ago, Day of Hylia, three in the morning,” he listed from memory. “Introduce me!”

“Fine,” the elder brother rubbed his eyes and pointed at each Link, “cloud-boy, shortie, Old Man, dork, dweeb, and nerd, other shortie, and brunet.”

The Links stepped in and corrected their nicknames, as well as give Link the gist of the circumstances.

“What about you?” Twilight asked, “what’s your story?”

“I’m the Hero of Legend,” he said simply, “I’ve saved Hyrule.”

“But your brother is the Hero of Legend?”

“Wish I wasn’t,” Legend butted in.

“Why can’t we both be the Hero of Legend?” Link looked confused, “it’s just a title.”

“But what did you do?” Four inquired further, “why are you both named Link?”

“I’ll explain the second one,” Legend answered, “same mother, different fathers. I was sent to live with my uncle for...reasons...and our mother practically considered me dead. She had Link and named him the same thing to, I don’t know, either to remember or forget me.”

Link nodded in agreement, “as for what I’ve done. I’ve fought Ganon.”

“After your brother?”

“No.”

“What else?” Sky was curious as well.

“I’ve fought Yuga and Lady Maud.”

Both things Legend had fought...this knowledge hit Hyrule the hardest, he was the one who knew his story the best, but there was never any mention of a brother.

“Did you fight together?” Wild this time spoke.

“No.”

“Then how-“

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Legend stopped the line of questions, “we don’t need to explain to you are history. Go easy on the kid.”

Everyone, sans Legend, noticed Link’s face fall for a split second before going back to his smile.

“It’s alright,” he beamed, “I’m just so excited to finally meet y’all.”

Legend slapped his head again. Warriors did a double take.

“Did he-did he just say-“

“I’m disowning you,” Legend declared, “go back to Ravio’s, he has clearly tainted you.”

“What?” Link was confused, “what did I say? Why’re y’all looking at me like that?”

“HE SAID IT AGAIN!”

“Legend,” Twilight was laughing, “I am adopting your brother.”

“Please,” he drawled, but was clearly joking.

They chatted for a couple more minutes, throwing banter and getting to know the newest Link. After a while, he quieted down and didn’t speak again until Legend pointed it out.

“What’s the matter, bud?” He pushed his shoulder.

“Do I get a nickname?” He asked innocently.

Legend’s small smile immediately vanished, “why?”

“For when I travel with you. I get to, don’t I?”

“Sure!” Wind jumped.

“Absolutely not,” Legend denied, “this is too-“

“If you say it’s too dangerous I will f*cking murder you,” Link’s mood turned sour quick, revealing the anger that was still pent up from the night before. “You’re alive aren’t you? I am more than capable of handling myself, unlike you.”

Silence and crickets.

“This is not the time-“

“Koholint nearly killed you, not me, last I remembered.”

“Koholint-that was different,” Legend was stunned that his brother would use that against him, “we were stupid...”

“You were stupid! *I* wanted to wake the Wind Fish and you wouldn’t let me.”

“It would’ve killed everyone.”

“They weren’t real!”

“SHE WAS REAL!”

“Keep dreaming. What about Lorule?” Link pointed out, “you didn’t trust Ravio, you wouldn’t buy his items until I forced you to. We needed them to pass the dungeons.”

“You act like Hilda didn’t betray us and you trusted her just the same.”

“She did what she had to do, she knew what sacrifice meant.”

“What happened to not losing anyone else?”

“You’re the only family I have left,” Link finished his screaming match, “I’m sorry I want to protect you.”

He stood still before bolted out the door. Legend sat down, not even bothering to follow him. He knew it would do no good. Wind and Wild looked at each other and decided silently to go find him.

“He’s going to Zelda, most likely,” he said to no one in particular, “maybe she can calm him down. F*ck!”

He kicked the wall of his house and ignored the throbbing pain that came with it.

“You two have an...interesting relationship,” Twilight commented, “has it always been like this?”

“Ever since that pig came,” he put his face in his hands, “our mother died in the onslaught, that’s how we met. I just...I just want him to have a normal life. He still has that! Why can’t he just take it!”

“Normal life is a little too late for him,” Time said solemnly, “but I understand you wanting to protect him.”

“It’s all...” he ran his fingers through his head, “what do you do when your only family member keeps throwing themself into danger?”

Silence.

“...aren’t you doing that,” Hyrule was hesitant to point out, “I mean, your brother seems to want the same thing you do: to protect you.”

“It’s not his job to protect me,” he snapped before breathing in sharply, “oh goddesses, why is he so selfless?”

Then, a rare sight indeed, Legend let out a tear. Then another. And another. And more until Hyrule felt it necessary to hug him.

“It’ll be okay,” Hyrule told him, “after all, I’m here. If something bad happened, then my whole country wouldn’t exist. There won’t be anymore Ganon or invasions for a long time.”

“But this mission,” Legend held onto one of his rings, “I’ve had this awful feeling, we are not all going to make it out of this. What if it’s him?”

Time thought back to the message the Sheikah Slate gave him. Someone will die. How could Legend have known?

“No one’s going to die,” Sky stated clearly, “we’ll make sure of it.”

Legend didn’t believe that all, “if, if Link wants to come with because of me, then-then I’m staying.”

“What?”

“I can’t risk it!” He made his decision, standing up and wiping away the tears, “it’s been fun, but family comes first.”

“We-we understand,” Time was shocked at the reaction, he couldn’t even hide it.

He nodded his thanks, “now, if you’ll excuse me, I must find my brother.”

The door reopened at that moment, Wind, Wild, and Link were back. Link stood in between they two, holding one hand each and looking down at the floor, ashamed.

“L-Link,” Legend ran over, falling to his knees, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

Link’s eyes were bloodshot, but he was done crying for the day. Instead, he took Legend’s approach to emotions and had a blank face. They seemed to have swapped for the moment.

“Is this an important mission?” He asked.

“Yes, but that doesn’t matter. I’ll stay-“

“Will you come back,” he interrupted. “If you go, will you come back?”

“Always,” he promised, giving a small laugh, “not even death can kill me.”

“Then...” Link gave him the biggest smile he possibly could’ve, “I’ll stay here while you go and fight this monster. Someone has to watch Hyrule and Lorule!”

“W-what?”

“Wind and Wild talked to me,” he explained, “I know why you’re worried about me, but I want you to know that I can still hold my own.”

He put his hands on his hips and faked pouting.

Legend laughed for real this time, “of course, bud.”

He hugged his brother and he hugged back. No one but Wind and Wild saw him mouth the words ‘thank you’ to them. The two had their own stories with siblings, one obvious, one not so much, but the were once in Legend’s place of being the old brother, worrying constantly.

“If it’s not too much,” Link asked once they were done hugging, “can I still have a nickname?”

“Sure,” Legend ruffled his hair playfully, “dweeb, dork, and nerd are already taken, but I think doofus fits you fine.”

Link stuck his tongue out at him, “seriously!”

“What about you use Hero of Worlds?” He suggested without joking, “we haven’t gone by that title much.”

“No,” Link scrunched up his face, “that’s too dumb. Why’d you have to take the cooler title?”

“Cause I’m the cooler brother?”

“What about Lore?” Four spoke up.

Immediately, both brothers choked on air.

“We don’t talk about Lore!” “That maniac?”

“Tale?” Time recalled a similar younger brother who did dangerous things to save the world.

“Tale,” Link said the name back, “I like it!”

“Short Tale it is!” Legend pulled Tale’s hat over his eyes, “you are now an honorary member of the time traveling heroes.”

“You’re just mad because Zelda is taller than you!”

“Uncalled for, Tale!”

Chapter Text

He woke up to singing, staring up at the sky. His head was in her lap as she stroked his hair without thinking. From the looks of it, only twenty minutes had past.

“I must’ve died, because I see Hylia,” Legend stopped her singing, “though, she’s much prettier than I thought.”

Marin laughed, “you always say the weirdest things, Link! One day you’ll have to tell me who this Hylia is.”

“Never,” he sat up and felt the sand beneath his body fall away. That was one of the things he loved about Koholint, no goddess to tell him what do.

Or maybe Hylia never existed in the first place. Who’s to say?

He scampered around to find his green hat and put it on. Standing up, Legend reached for Marin’s hand, pulling her up after him. They started to walk on the beach.

“Sorry for falling asleep on our date,” he apologized, “I thought I could survive for at least thirty minutes.”

“It’s perfectly fine,” Marin smiled, “you look cute when you’re asleep.”

Despite getting more rest than anyone else on the island, Legend had the unfortunate ability to always be dead tired. He passed out at random times of the day, though he was never able to sleep more than two hours at a time. There was no coffee on the island, so he couldn’t even wake himself up.

When did it start happening to him? He couldn’t remember a time where he didn’t wish for the sleep release of death-like sleep. That shrine in town, quite possibly? He never felt right after leaving that, but it had to have been sooner. When he first woke up after crashing his boat? That made some amount of sense, yet it still didn’t feel right.

To get him out of those thoughts, he playfully pushed Marin while holding her hand. She giggled as she always did.

“So,” she continued the conversation, “did you dream about something this time?”

His face paled, “Marin, those are just stupid creations of insomnia.”

“I know, but they’re interesting,” she begged, “please? Was it the same one at least? The one with eight other yous?”

Legend nodded, “it was nothing special, the cook made some dinner, forgot what it was, and the others talked.”

Wild, his mind added the name.

She looked disappointed, “really, the two short ones you talk about did nothing interesting?”

Four and Wind, his mind continued. Shut up, his thoughts responded.

“No, they were asleep.” Lies, Wind was helping Wild, declaring the best salt was the one dragged straight from the ocean. Four, on the other hand, was hanging upside down from a tree for who knows what reason.

“Okay,” she clutched his arm, “you know you can talk to me, right?”

“Oh course, darling,” and he meant it. He never thought someone would love him like Marin did, so he was going to hold onto her. Who would love some unstable swordsman?

Marin opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Or, at least, Legend didn’t hear them.

“What?” He asked, already feeling his eyes grow heavy. The ground was shaking and he felt a headache coming on from loud sounds of metal crashing.

“Link!” He could barely feel Marin catch his arms as he fell asleep.

“Legend!” He sprung into action, waking up in a split second at the call of his name. Hyrule was fighting off against an ambush that had attacked only moments ago.

Legend swore, he should’ve expected this. Monster attacks have been getting more and more frequent as of late. He needed to fix his sleeping issues, he was almost making Sky look perfectly rested.

He shook the dreams from his head, they weren’t real, no time to deal with them now. After all, who would love some unstable swordsman?

He fell asleep two hours later, once all the Links returned. They were talking about the strange influx of monsters while he went to lay down. He had never stayed up for more than two hours, that everyone knew.

“Wake me up when someone’s dead,” Legend told Hyrule, “and please let it be me.”

He was out before he even hit the pillow.

“Morning, Link!” Marin cried from the kitchen, “or afternoon! You almost had a full two hours.”

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, sitting up from the bed. She must’ve dragged him here all the way from the beach.

“You should just start leaving me where I drop,” he walked up to her, kissing her on the cheek as he looked at what she was making. “It would be easier.”

“I want to,” she leaned her head onto his, “I like knowing you’re safe.”

“What could ever happen on this island of all places?”

The house chose that moment to rattle intensely, like some big explosion happened. Legend immediately ran outside and looked for the source: the egg.

He had been on the island long enough to know everything about it by heart. The kids were always by the library unless there was an emergency. The Animal Village now had a bed at the entrance just for Marin’s boyfriend. The Wind Fish’s egg did not have a crack in it.

In the distance, he heard growling. Very familiar growling. But...bokoblins couldn’t be here. They weren’t real!

“Link, what’s wrong?” Marin came out of the house, only seeing his face that held fear.

“Nothing,” he lied, “let’s go back inside.”

“But-“

“C’mon, it’s getting dark out. Don’t want any ghosts to find and haunt us!”

“You made that up, I know you did! Something else from your dreams?”

He teased her some more. Was it so hard to believe that there were ghosts in their lives, not in whatever fiction his mind created.

He fell asleep an hour later.

-

“DAMNIT!” Months, weeks, days, who knows, later, Legend slammed his foot into the nearest tree, swearing up a storm.

“Legend?” Wind looked up at him, “are you okay?”

“Shut up! You aren’t real!”

“Wow, thanks,” he huffed, “spend half a year together and the guy calls you an illusion. This is the second time this has happened to me.”

“Don’t yell at him,” Warriors glared, “what are you doing?”

“SHUT UP!” Legend screamed at the top of his lungs, “he isn’t real, you aren’t real, none of this is real!”

“You’re just tired,” Warriors rolled his eyes, “stop acting like a lunatic.”

Some weird had happened, Legend had been awake for six hours and it was driving him crazy. After months of this happening, he was sure he understood what was going on, but now? He needed to go back, he needed to wake up.

Legend didn’t stop screaming, ranting, and kicking. Everyone had started to take note and decided to either look on in fear or go about their time. Wild decided to take action.

“I can knock him out,” he suggested, pulling out a club from his slate.

Hyrule shrieked, “no!”

“Well I don’t have sleeping potions!”

“Wait,” Legend suddenly stopped and sprinted over to Wild, “that might work, hit me!”

Wild grinned, “if you insist.”

“What is wrong with you two?” Warriors swiped the club away before Wild could strike, “Legend, just go lay down.”

“I have tried that,” Legend’s bags underneath his eyes shined as he glared, “believe me, I would much rather not be here right now.”

“You always say that,” Warriors pointed out, “how when you sleep you’re ‘leaving,’ why? You’re just asleep, not going to a different world.”

Legend froze, eyes widening. Then he collapsed.

Waking up he immediately felt pain. Blood covered his hands and his side was wrapped in bandages, his tunic having been taken off to care for him. He had a fever and could barely see anything. What happened?

“Mrn?” He murmured, trying to open his eyes more, “Mrn, wrr ya?”

“Link, oh my goodness,” he felt his girlfriend run over to his bedside, her voice filled with worry, “I thought-I thought...you’ve never been asleep this long, I thought I lost you.”

“Wha hapn?” He felt her hands place a rag over his forehead, obscuring his vision anymore. At least the ice in it subsided some of his headache.

“You were stupid, that’s what!” She laughed weakly, “always playing the hero. Those monsters coming from the mountain, you fought them off, but they pushed you-they-you-“

She burst into tears and Legend remembered. Those strange fantasy creations from his dream world, bokoblins, came out of the Wind Fish’s egg and he went to clear them off. He killed the last one when he slipped, falling off the mountain.

He should be dead. He had to thank Crazy Tracy the next time he saw her.

“Link, you can’t keep doing this,” Marin calmed down enough to speak coherent sentences, “promise me you won’t fight anymore, at least not those creatures.”

“No-un el cn,” he tried to sit up. He needed to protect the island, it was his whole world.

“As long as we leave them alone, we should be fine. Please, Link?”

He tried to say something, yet no words came out. What he would’ve said if he could, he had no idea. Instead, he was content to stay there, no matter how injured, next to his love as she told him stories to distract him.

He fell asleep an hour later.

“Legend?” Hyrule was shaking him and he was up, or he would’ve if he could’ve. Something was prohibiting from moving without wincing in pain. What was on his tunic? Was that blood?

“Hyrule?” Legend swatted him away, “what are you doing?”

“You collapsed,” he explained, “which isn’t the weird part. You started bleeding! When were you hit?”

“I-I wasn’t?” The last battle they had he had been unconscious for, and everyone agreed that nothing had been near his body then. Still, that didn’t explain the bruises on his arm or the blood staining his tunic an even darker shade of red.

His mind flashed to Marin and he connected the dots. Of course, he wanted to laugh, this just proved his theory. Koholint was the real world, and the Links were his dreams. Having injuries that he got in the real world in his dream made all the more sense.

Legend laid back down, closing his eyes with a smile on his face. He could finally stop caring.

“Wiped that smile off your face,” Warriors commanded, “how long have you been hiding this from us?”

“Nope,” Legend used his un-bruised arm to hold a finger to his lips, “none of this is real so I don’t have to listen to you anymore, Captain. Not that I did before, but you get the point.”

“There he goes again,” Wind rolled his eyes, “I’ve been to a dream world, so this is definitely not one.”

“Dreams wouldn’t tell me they were dreams,” Legend waved off the statement, “so that proves nothing.”

If anything it proved his point even more. Wind’s whole story of going to a dream world could just be ripped from his own psyche. That’s why everyone in the dream is him, just altered. Why Time had the mask that hung up in his old home and why knew of his stories. Why had he ever believed in time traveling reincarnations?

“Legend,” Hyrule said softly, “are you alright?”

The way he said his name hurt. It was the same tone Marin said ‘Link’ in, whenever he scared her on his adventure. He clenched his eyes shut, he didn’t have to deal with this anymore.

Hyrule sighed, “Wild, do you have a potion or fairy?”

“Uh, yeah?” Wild pulled out a fairy tonic and tossed it over. Hyrule forced Legend to drink the potion and the injuries faded. Legend didn’t care either way.

He fell asleep ten minutes later. His so-called descendant saying something about getting rest and he woke up.

Waking up back on Koholint felt amazing. Marin was asleep next to him, curled onto his arm, and it was dark out, so he was at least not blinded by the light. He smiled.

Then he frowned. Looking down, his injuries were completely gone.

No, he thought, no, no, no, no, no, nononononono. He figured it out, he solved the forsaken puzzle! Why would he be healed here and now? Unless he imagined the injury coming from the mountain fall...

No, no, no, no, no. He couldn’t handle the possibility of Koholint, of Marin, being the dream. There was no way. Him crash landing on an island was way more plausible than some Dark Link.

But, come to think of it...where was everyone else on the island? He hadn’t seen Tarin is so long, nor those kids, nor the animals.

He sat there, in existential dread, for nearly two hours.

Then he woke up.

Hyrule was right next to him, looking concerned. He recognized the lost look that Legend held in his eyes once they opened.

“I-I,” it was painful to admit, but he stuttered it out, “I don’t know what’s real anymore.”

It took ten minutes to gather everyone and to wake them from their slumbers. It took twenty more for Legend to explain what he knew.

Between ten and two hours, usually, he would fall asleep in one world and wake up in the other. Injuries or healings carried over, but not always the knowledge of how he got them. He was at first sure that this was the dream, until...

“You actually thought we were figments of your imagination?” Warriors raised an eyebrow, “you weren’t just sleep deprived.”

“I am always sleep deprived,” he shot back, “and I’m not 100% certain that you all aren’t fake.”

“Alright,” Time crossed his arms, “how do you suggest we move forward?”

“Uh, if you were the dream can you just stop?”

“But we aren’t the dream,” Wind argued, “how great is this other world that we’re the worse option?”

Legend smiled sadly, “it’s either my family is fake or the love of my life. Koholint is really beautiful, but as my dreams you would know that.”

“Do you really want us to be the fake ones?” Hyrule asked sadly.

Honestly, he answered, “I cannot emphasize enough that if Marin isn’t real, I don’t know what I would do.”

“What changed your mind, then?” Four changed the subject slightly, “earlier you were dead certain at calling us illusions and then you told Hyrule that you were unsure.”

“The potion,” Legend snarled, “the injury I got from Koholint and then I was healed here. I thought that this was the dream since my injury carried over, but the potion’s effects did as well.”

“Maybe,” Four mused, “you were awake for six hours when you fell off a mountain in the other world, you were nearly dead, right?”

Legend nodded, his health was a lot lower in Koholint than here.

“Maybe you need to die in one world to stay in the other one,” he said with a solemn tone, “it’s morbid, but it’s the only thing I can think of.”

Legend hated that it lined up.

Hyrule put a hand on his shoulder, “how can you tell which is which?”

“I need-“ he started to sway, “I need to-to talk to Marin.”

Forty minutes in Legend collapsed into Hyrule’s arms and he woke up in Marin’s.

“Morning,” her voice chimed, putting his heart to ease a tiny amount.

“We need to talk,” he told her.

“Okay?”

He explained the same thing that he told the Links, with a few minor tweaks. He couldn’t stand looking at her face when he told her he couldn’t say for certain that she was real.

“But I am real,” she protested, grabbing his hands, “see?”

“I can touch the others, too,” he frowned, “this proves nothing. I don’t know what to do, what to believe, Marin.”

“Believe me!” She cried, “I’m real, this whole island is real. You just have a concussion from the fall, that’s it.”

“Marin,” Legend said in a calm voice, “it’s okay. I just need you to help me, please.”

“Anything!”

“Is there something, anything, you can say that proves you’re real?” He hated asking this, but he needed to be sure.”

“I-uh-I’m real,” that was all she could say.

“Where’s Tarin?”

“Who?”

Tears started to pour out of Legend’s eyes. He laughed like a dying old man and kissed Marin’s forehead gently.

“No one important,” he told her, “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” she smiled.

Legend never fell asleep that day, which he wasn’t sure if that was a blessing or a curse. He and Marin went on a date and sometime through she went go to something. Legend took the opportunity to go and do what he needed to do.

The bokoblins were still spilling out of the Wind Fish’s egg. How had he never notice the large whole in it and the endless void of nightmares that wanted to kill him? How had he never notice the island was covered in a fog that covered bits and pieces, like some of the dungeon entrances or the river rapids ride?

They didn’t exist, that’s why. Koholint has been gone for years and this was the shattered fragments that his mortal mind could replicate.

It was so *good*. Why did it have to end?

Legend sighed, one last glance was tossed back to an empty Mabe Village, and he walked through the hole in the egg.

He knew pain and then he woke up.

Hyrule was still holding him, only slightly shocked by Legend’s sudden tight grip.

“Did you talk to her?” He asked innocently.

Tears were still pouring, “she-she, oh Hylia, you’re real!”

No one said anything as he cried. They all knew what just happened without even needing to hear it.

Legend wouldn’t fall asleep for another 26 hours, not until he was forced to. He would still never sleep longer than two hours, but for a different reason this time and he could control when he fell asleep.

And, whenever he slept, he dreamed of an empty beach. A beach where only he sat and seagulls were in the distance, a fog covering anything of substance.

Then he would wake up.

Chapter Text

Link had only seen one corpse in his very long, yet short, life.

Corpses don’t move. They don’t get up and dance and harass strangers. They didn’t astral project and curse the water supply. They didn’t ask to be relieved from duty after years of service.

They weren’t skeletons, stalfoes, wizzrobes, ghosts, redeads, or any other kind of monster.

Corpses don’t move. This is what Link was told and he didn’t believe it. He had met those who have died, he had seen monsters come from the graves of loved ones. He met Dampe who told him stories of those who came back. If corpses didn’t move, then what were those?

Navi had always looked at him funnily whenever he mentioned death. To the Kokiri, death was another word for rebirth. It wasn’t a goodbye, but a ‘see you again’. Navi knew more than Link did, clearly.

Because corpses don’t move.

“He’s not moving anymore...”

Navi’s voice, no longer bright and cheery, said solemnly. Her light dimmed a little as she prayed for his soul to go to the sacred realm. Link still didn’t understand.

“Navi,” he asked shakily, fearful for some reason he did not know, “what’s wrong? Why isn’t he moving?”

“Link, we should go. The Princess...”

“He was just moving, what do you mean?” His voice was full of innocence. Navi regretted the fact that she never showed him the Minish, now he would never see them.

“Link, he’s-he’s dead.”

What? But he wasn’t a skeleton or a ghost. That’s what happened after you die, right?

He turned toward the sleeping knight and shook him. The armor he wore scratched against the bricks and blood was showing itself on his back.

“Sir?” He pleaded for a response, “where are you?”

“Link.”

“What about the Princess?”

“Link!”

“Why aren’t you moving?”

Corpses don’t move.

This was a corpse. An empty husk of a dead man, giving his life for some greater cause. There was nothing after for him, nothing after that Link knew about.

He wasn’t moving. The only motion was caused by Link himself. He was gone.

“Link, sweetie,” Navi urged him to move, “you shouldn’t have to be here.”

“H-he’s gone,” he choked out, “he’s dead? This is my fault!”

“No, it isn’t! It’s Ganondorf’s.”

“I wasn’t here in time,” he started to cry, “I could’ve saved him. And now-now-“

Now he wasn’t moving. When he died, sooner or later, would Link no longer move as well?

The thought terrified him. Laying in the back of an alley where there was no one else there except his killer.

He stayed in that alley a little longer. No one bothered them, but that was probably worse. If he didn’t happen to stop, no one would’ve heard the man’s last words. He wished he could bury the man, or at least call Dampe, but there was no time.

The next time he came to the alley would be ten minutes and seven years laters. He still wasn’t moving, but Link had no time to stop.

He had others to save.

-

He was alive, that Link knew. He was moving around and he still had blood, so that was a good sign. Seeing supposed alternate versions of yourself made one think one was dead.

He was alive, but that didn’t explain the multi-dimensional time travel bull that was going on. The Captain was here, though, so he could trust them.

They gave him the name Mask, Time already being taken by some older fellow. Mask thought he recognized him, but he wasn’t sure who he was or why he looked so familiar. The scars certainly didn’t help, and the fact that Time recognized him and refused to tell him why.

“War of Time,” he shrugged with a fake smile, “a lot of us fought in it.”

Bastard, Mask thought, one day he would get his answer.

Wind was pretty cool, played games with him whenever he was bored. Wild and Legend let him explode things with them. Sky let him curl up in his sail cloth (let was a strong word, more like didn’t kick him out) and Hyrule showed his magic off for him. Four was weird, but a good weird, like some of the folks in Termina. Twilight was an enigma, just not one he was interested in solving right now. He was also a little snooty and uptight in his opinion, regardless of the country slang he used.

For the first time in a while, Mask was content. They were always on the move, helped people all around, and had a goal in mind. It was his version of peaceful.

That’s not to say he didn’t get into trouble every once in a while.

-

Mask blamed the cursed glowing red eyes for giving him away. It was about three weeks into his stay with the Links when the Captain finally figured out he wasn’t sleeping.

“Link,” Warriors sighed, he never called him Mask, only Link, “Wild woke up last night and claimed that two red eyes were staring at him in the dark.”

He paused, like he wanted Mask to respond.

“Lizalfoes?” He suggested, as a joke.

“Four also saw the same thing three nights ago,” he added, “and Time two weeks ago.”

“We are being stalked by monsters, is that really a shock?”

“Why haven’t you been sleeping?” And the question was dropped, no more dancing around the subject.

Mask frowned, “I don’t need to, okay? Why sleep if I can be awake and doing something?”

“What are you doing?”

Silence. He wasn’t doing anything at night.

Warriors’ eyes shown with pity, “is everything alright? I know you were restless during the war, but you’re safe here. You can sleep without having to stay up all the time.”

“Captain,” he added respectfully before disrespecting authority, “I can decide when I feel safest, thank you very much.”

Three weeks didn’t mean nothing when he felt so much older than twelve on the inside. He had seen these people lose fights individually, so he wasn’t confident that one lookout would save them all.

“I know you haven’t known these people very long, but I can speak on their behalf-“

“It’s okay,” it was not okay, “the All-Night Mask has no ill affects so I can wear it as much as I want.”

“Link, have you looked at yourself recently?” A strange question. Of course he has! He used the Elegy of Emptiness just the other day to solve a puzzle, so he saw himself then.

“Yes,” he crossed his arms, “what does this have to do with anything?”

“You look dead on your feet, that’s what!” A mirror shield was shoved in front of his face to reveal bags under his eyes and his skin pale and shallow. Mask noticed no difference.

“It doesn’t matter,” he pushed the shield away, “I’m fine!”

“You’ve been slipping up. You know, lack of sleep impairs you, in more ways than one.”

“I’m fine,” he repeated and started to dig in his bag, looking for the dumb mask to prove him wrong.

“You become slow-“

“Uh-huh.” Where was the thing?

“-make mistakes-“

“Like you don’t already, Captain. Miss your beauty sleep?” No, that was a different mask.

“-you forget where you left things.” Motherf*cker.

Mask looked up to see the All-Night Mask clutched in Warriors’ hand. He wasn’t smiling triumphantly like he normally would, instead his face was grim and tired himself.

“Give it back!” He tried to grab it and Warriors lifted the thing above his head, out of his reach, “do you know how much that cost?”

“I’ll give it back after you sleep every day for a week,” he demanded, “Captain’s orders.”

Pulling rank when he barely cared about rank in the first place? He only called him Captain still to mock him.

“One night,” Mask raised a finger, “that’s it. Any longer and I will stab you in your sleep and take it back.”

Violent, but it got his point across. Besides, it would’ve been a nonlethal stab...or just a kick in the crotch.

That night, he tried to fall asleep. Sky lent him the sail cloth and Warriors gave him his bedroll. He would’ve just stayed awake through sheer will, but Warriors was on watch that night, he would make sure he fell asleep.

It was harder than he remembered. Sleep was the thing that happened at night, right? That happened naturally as the body exhausted itself. Mask always was exhausted, so he should’ve been knocked out in a heart beat.

It took his three hours before sleep hit him. It came so suddenly that he was 90% sure that Warriors either got Hyrule to cast some sleeping spell or hit him over the head with a club.

Either way, he was asleep and...

He couldn’t move.

Oh goddesses, he couldn’t move. He was in a black void, nowhere to go, nowhere to see, and he couldn’t move.

There was a light in the distance, faintly glowing blue and pulsing to some unheard music. He wanted to call out, but he couldn’t open his mouth. He couldn’t move.

He knew he was dreaming, he felt the world fade away, yet he could feel his physical body. It was helpless, lifeless. Someone could remove him from the scene and it wouldn’t even matter. A monster could attack and he might as well be dead.

He couldn’t move, why couldn’t he move? He was alive! He had blood, he felt pain! He felt fear...oh goddesses, he was so afraid. He wished he was shaking. He wanted to do anything.

He wanted to be awake, not lying there! He saw the problems that the Captain pointed out. His pale skin was too reminiscent of that guard he found all those years ago.

Maybe he was dead...no blood flowing to his head, no light shining for him. He fought for a cause that was bigger than himself and now he was in a dark alley with nothing but his killer, himself.

He couldn’t move.

“Link, we should go.”

A glow of blue light and he was awake. He was alive. He was shaking furiously, crying any water out that was left in him, and ready to attack at a moments notice, because that made him alive, made him feel alive.

Warriors was quick to run to his aid and wrap him in his arms. Mask pushed away, it stopped him from moving, he didn’t want that. Warriors was shocked by his strength and the constant movement, but Mask couldn’t stop. He couldn’t stop.

He fidgeted with his hands, he pulled at the cloth. His hair was in tangles once he was done with it. In dug through his bag, looking for something that could calm him down.

“Link,” he heard Warriors voice from far away, “Link.”

He was alive, he was moving.

Warriors placed his hands on his arms, holding them still. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t movehecouldn’tmovehecou-

He ripped his arms away and went back, flailing even faster than before.

“You’re going to hurt yourself.”

No he wasn’t! He knew his limits and moving wildly wasn’t harmful. This is why he should’ve stolen the mask back, this is why he shouldn’t compromise with an adult who doesn’t know his whole life.

“Link, look at me.”

Mask’s eyes darted everywhere, landing on Warriors every once in a while.

“Look at me, please. It’ll be okay.”

He was already okay? He was okay! He was perfectly fine, nothing wrong with him, nothing that could be fixed anyway. He was alive and that was the bare minimum that the gods required of him.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” his mouth started to move and it didn’t stop, “leave me alone, I’m fine, see? I’m fine! You don’t believe me I’m fine? I am fine!”

“Link, slow down,” he was starting to sound like Navi with all of his nagging. Why slow down? He was fine.

“Leave me alone, Navi,” he blinked rapidly, “I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fineI’mfineI’m-“

He finally found something in his bag: it was the Stone Mask. The guard’s Termina duplicate wore this mask, he was alone both in this world and the next, and he was almost dead in the second one too.

Now he had the mask. He felt alone.

He wasn’t fine.

He looked at Warriors, he blinked once and he slowed down.

“I think I’m having trouble sleeping,” he deadpanned.

Warriors weakly laughed, “I know. You want to talk about it?”

“I-,” he tried to find the words, “I don’t like sleeping. I don’t like not moving.”

He didn’t add what he really felt. He wouldn’t understand.

“Okay,” he nodded, “do you want me to try something? You still need sleep.”

Mask frowned, “can I just have my mask back?”

“The deal was one night’s rest, I’m holding you to that. Do you want me to try something? I promise you won’t be still.”

Meekly, he nodded. Warriors scooped him and the sail cloth up into his arms and he leaned back into a tree. Mask could barely move and he told Warriors as much.

“I’m done,” he said. Then, Warriors began to hum.

That loving bastard, he learned Epona’s Song from hearing Twilight sing it. He was god awful singer, but the few notes already made him nostalgic.

A soft and gentle rocking was added and Mask felt...safe? There was constant movement that he could feel all around. The wind moved and hit him as different angles, the speed changed from going left to right, and-and it was just peaceful.

He was moving and he fell asleep.

-

After he woke up that night, Mask admitted that maybe he needed regular sleep. It felt weak and embarrassing, but he asked Warriors if he...if he could do that thing he did most nights. At least until he felt comfortable sleeping again.

Bless his stupid and empathic heart, he said yes with no hesitation.

Beside the change of him no longer staying up and giving the others nightmares, he was constantly stimming. The motion he lost at night made him feel like he had to make up for it somehow. He pulled on his hat a lot, or played with his tunic. If the others noticed the change, they didn’t say anything.

Something did change though. Wind was acting weird. He would look at Mask once and then hurry away, refusing to look at him. That was rather rude considering they had planned to prank the adults together.

He finally got him to talk to him one day. In reality that meant when Wind broke his leg from falling off a horse Mask made sure he couldn’t run away. Still, Wind kept looking over Mask’s shoulder, like something was moving behind him.

Mask turned around, there was nothing there. He looked back, Wind was still fearful.

“Why are you avoiding me?” Mask played with his sword, feeling the grooves of the blade. It might’ve made it look like he’s threatening him, but he wasn’t, he promised.

“Am I?” Wind winced, he tried to get up with his leg and it hurt. He reluctantly stayed where he was.

Mask narrowed his eyes, “I’ll tell Captain that it was you who switched his shampoo with Legend’s hair dye.”

“That was you!”

“And he would believe who?” He smiled, “that’s right, his coworker.”

Wind laughed, “I’m pretty sure he’s more your father than coworker. You aren’t even in his army anymore!”

“You don’t know that,” Mask ignored the dad comment, “now?”

He quieted down, “I’ve just had a lot on my mind. That’s all. I haven’t heard from Aryll in a bit and you remind me of her.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” Wind rubbed the back of his neck, “sorry. We can play once I’m better! I have the best idea with my magic armor, all we need is Twi’s.”

Mask smiled, “consider it done.”

He waltzed off and Wind’s face dropped once it was out of side. He stared right behind the spot his friend was standing in and sighed. Looking around to make sure he was alone, he spoke.

“Who are you?” He asked the ghost.

He had seen a few ghosts following Mask before, but they only stayed for a few days. After that, they went to hang around Time for some reason. Those spirits were of different races, a goron, a deku scrub, and a zora, but this was a human who only appeared recently. The ghost was dressed like a knight, an injury on his back, and his face was covered with a rock-looking mask.

“You can see me?” The man seemed happy, happier than any other ghost when being acknowledged, “you can actually see me?”

Wind nodded and repeated, “who are you?”

The knight looked at the ground, “I am no one but a humble guard of the castle.”

“Why are you following Ma-Link?” Wind corrected his mistake, “did you know him?”

He shook his head, “no, and he barely knew me.”

“Then why? Why are you here?”

“He,” he started, “he was the only one to even notice I was gone.”

The guard stared into the distance, “I doubt anyone even remember my name.”

“What is your name?” Wind asked, curious.

“I-I don’t know,” he laughed, “I’m not meant to have a name, though. I’m meant to fade into the background and be invisible, you seeing me means I’ve fail.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s alright,” the guard sounded like he was smiling underneath the mask, “I like being seen. It was good talking to you, you remind me of the kid.”

“We get that a lot.”

Suddenly, Mask came running back, a bunch of armor in hand, “Twi practically chucked this thing in my hands! Said something about rupee stealing magic!”

The guard took a step back and faded from reality to the point that even Wind could barely see him. He was not moving, yet he was at peace.

-

Corpses don’t move.

Warriors wasn’t moving.

It was raining, the idiot slipped! He moved too much and now he wasn’t moving at all. A monster, he was hit at the right time for the enemy and at the very wrong time for him.

Mask didn’t need the Fierce Deity to tear every creature limb from limb in the next minutes. With the sword gifted to him by the Great Fairies of Termina and the magic of the Great Fairies of Hyrule, no force could match his anger.

It was raining, the water was falling down. The monsters were dust and ash, crushed under the heroes’ feet, but they drifted in the wind. Warriors breathing was shallow, but that was all that was hanging on.

He was moving, if only slightly, he was going to be fine.

Why did he stop breathing every few seconds? Why weren’t his hands gripped on his sword, ready for another fight? Why was there blood on his back? Why did his armor scratch the mossy stone tiles of Wild’s Hyrule? Why wasn’t he moving?

“Captain?” Mask dropped his sword and ran to his leader, “c’mon, stop messing around.”

He could hear Navi’s voice, “he’s dead, Link.”

“Navi, shut up!” He no longer needed her to tell him what was going on. He wasn’t a naive kid who had never experience death before. “C’mon, Captain, you’ve gotta move. Sir?”

He felt someone’s hand on his shoulder.

“Please, don’t leave me,” he begged, “I won’t be able to sleep without you. You still have my mask, you jerk!”

What was meant as a joke came out as a pouring of tears. He heard the person touching him speak.

“You need to move,” it was Time.

“No!” Why wasn’t he moving? His breathing was stopping for whole seconds at a time, his felt cold. “Sir, Captain, please.”

“Mask-“

“SHUT UP!” He yelled, “I don’t care.”

He curled right next to Warriors’ weak form, rocking himself back and forth. He hummed Epona’s Song, hoping that by some miracle it would bring him back to finish the melody.

Why wasn’t he moving?

“He’s not going to die,” Time finished his thought, “I promise you.”

Mask looked up to see the old man holding a garish looking mask, one decorated to look like a Great Fairy. How did-he had his mask?

In that moment, Mask finally recognized his older self for what he was.

The mask glowed and he didn’t need to see what happened next, he needed to feel it. He curled even closer to Warriors than before, humming slightly quieter.

Corpses don’t move.

He felt arms surround him and he felt okay with not moving for once.

Chapter Text

He was getting too old for this.

Wallowing through an unknown woods with nothing but the sword in his hand and some very unhelpful maps was not Link’s ideal picture of fun. But, there was no other Hero of Hyrule out there, so he needed to check out the strange portals that appeared on the border of Hyrule and Calatia.

It was strange indeed, the portal radiated magic so strong that could just feel its location without seeing it. He was getting close, that he knew.

His back hurt, he thought, so did his feet. The boots he wore were weathered with age and use that they barely constituted as shoes anymore. His cracking bones didn’t help either.

In a world where the average lifespan for Hylians was 40, being 34 and still adventuring as he was was dangerous. Hyrule just wasn’t in a right enough spot to not take every chance he had at not doing dangerous tasks. He could never say no to his Princesses.

He chuckled, his wife hated that he still called them that. Queen Zelda always treated it with bemusement, while his wife pointed out that they were his Queen and Princess, if not wife.

He missed her, missed them.

The portal was closer, he could hear an annoyed voice swear. Casting some light magic to muffle his movements, Link closed in, watching for any attack. None came, though, for the voice was too busy screaming about what he was going to do to a certain goddess.

“I AM MOTHERF*CKING RETIRED!” The man shouted at the portal, “AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS TO DEAL WITH YOUR SH*T, HYLIA?”

Link caught more and more glimpses as the man ranted. He was wearing an open red tail coat with a worn green tunic underneath. His blond hair was just long enough to put into a small pony tail, except for a strand of fading pink hair over his left ear that was in a braid. He looked around 30, definitely younger than Link himself.

“WHEN I DIE I WILL PERSONALLY CLIMB ONTO YOUR THRONE AND BANISH YOU INTO HELL SO FAST-“

“Excuse me, sir?” Link made himself known, “why, pray tell, are you cursing out our goddess? Why might you happen to be standing in front of that portal?”

The man swirled around, pulling out a shimmering golden sword from inside his coat and pointed it at Link. His eyes looked over Link, like he was trying to decide if he was a threat or not.

From the man’s perspective, he saw a very tired royal consort. Link’s hair was cut regularly, yet it always looked messy and wild, and the immortal five o’clock shadow on his face refused to either go away or grow more. His adventuring outfit was somehow even more simpler than his childhood outfits, with a plain green shirt and brown pants. He didn’t need armor, even though it was offered, since his magic protected him enough.

“Who are you, old man?” The man snapped, never dropping his sword down, “where are we?”

“I could ask the same of you,” he countered, he learned a long time ago to never tell his name to strangers. Cults were still a problem, even to this day. “We are on the border of Hyrule.”

The man sighed internally, not a different country then. Once he saw Link made no attempt to attack, he put away his sword.

“Name’s Link,” he told him, no hint of lying, “our so called lovely goddess pushed me through this portal and I’m trying to figure out why.”

He turned his back on Link, not even looking at his gaping face. His name was-it was his-they had the same name?

“Dark in origin,” the man, Link, muttered to himself, inspecting the portal’s edges, “very advanced with these runes.”

He stuck his hand through the portal, but, as he did, the black void shrunk away from his touch. The further he stretched his hand in, the farther the magic went back. He humphed.

“Must have to completely walk though it,” he decided, “you, old man, what do you know of this?”

“Old man?” Link spluttered, “you look barely younger than me.”

“I’m 29 in theory,” he shrugged, “with the stress I’m under I might as well be 70, but my body is as good as when I was 17.”

He chucked a stick from the ground into the portal, watching as it sailed into the unknown.

“Only five years difference, then,” Link told him. “Did I hear you correctly, did you say your name was Link?”

“Yeah,” he narrowed his eyes, “why, got something against it? You aren’t the royal guard, right?”

Ah, so he was a felon, that or he pranked a few guards in his youth.

“It’s just that my name is Link, too,” he broke the ice, “and I have never met anyone else to have had it.”

The other Link somehow narrowed his eyes even more, “you must’ve had a wonderful life, old man.”

“Stop calling me-“

“What year is it?”

“What?”

He rolled his eyes, “you heard me, the year?”

He told him and the man swore loudly. Birds from nearby trees flew away as he shrieked louder than any other monster in existence.

“F*cking time travel,” he calmed down and asked something strange of Link, “the name Hero of Legend mean anything to you?”

Link pointed weakly at himself, “I’m the Hero of Hyrule, the Hero of Legend has been dead for centuries.”

The Hero of Legend smiled, “then it’s your lucky day, old man.”

-

Portals, portals, and more portals. The Hero of Time was starting to get flashbacks to his childhood of fighting in that weird War of Time. Each portal he ran through he came out at a different time period, which was never his own.

On the bright side, or the more funny side of things, Link was 90% sure he became a mythological cryptid all throughout time. One Hyrule he landed in and had to buy supplies from led him to hearing rumors of a portal hopping immortal hero that dressed in green.

Coincidence, he shrugged whenever anyone brought it up to him. How could he, a 22-year-old traveler, dressed as a mix between a ranch hand and a fae, with bright blond and spiky hair, match up with the Hero of Time? He just couldn’t help that he was dashing.

He stepped through what must have been his 35th portal when he just wasn’t feeling this Hyrule. It was a portal in the middle of the desert and he refused to ever go back to that place unless he wanted to get arrested again, for whatever reason. Turning around to walk back through and find another one, he didn’t expect to get slammed by two older men walking out of the portal.

He fell into the sand, which blinded him for a few seconds, and he heard one of the men apologize.

“Hey, kid,” the blond one helped him up roughly, “what are you doing in the middle of the desert?”

“He’s a kid yet I’m an old man?” The brunet complained.

“Yes, anyone younger than me is a kid, any one older is an old man, keep up. Besides, look at the kid, he looks like a literal toddler.”

“Do you always treat those you run into like this?” Link crossed his arms, “why’d you use the portal?”

“Vacation,” the blond replied sarcastically, “we wanted to see the sights and figured dark magic was the best way to do it.”

Link was not impressed.

“If you could move,” he tried to push through them, “you are standing in front of my exit.”

“Hold up, you came out of this, too? What kinda kid walks through portals?”

“Me, I guess,” Link tried again, “move.”

“Legend,” the brunet spoke, “let’s just get out of the way.”

“At least tell us your name,” the blond, Legend, demanded, “seeing as we might run into you, time traveling and all.”

Even though he had no reason to say, he answered, “Link, my name’s Link.”

“Well, well, well,” Legend’s eyes shifted between anger, sadness, and cryptic joy, “we will definitely be seeing a lot more of each other. Name’s Link, as well, but you can call me Legend. The old man is-“

“Please call me Hyrule,” Hyrule begged, “we’re the Hero of Legend and the Hero of Hyrule. Can we presume you’re also a hero?”

Link grinned, “well, old man, I happen to go by the Hero of Time.”

Legend’s cackling could be heard across the timelines.

-

Link just wanted to enjoy his coronation in peace, was that too much to ask?

After turning 18, him and Tetra could finally tie the knot and, to honor their ancestors, make their royalty official. A somewhat large assembly, probably half of the entire population of the Great Sea, gathered in the newly built castle in New Hyrule to watch the first king and queen be crowned.

Technically, Link shouldn’t be King Link, instead only being a prince consort at most, but Tetra said that was dumb.

“You are not abandoning me now!” She demanded, “you are taking half my responsibilities, because I am not being stuck in a castle for the rest of my life!”

He was happy to become a king, as long as it meant that she was happy. To be honest, he didn’t much appreciate the clothes, too stuffy. To keep up appearances, or whatever Anju said, he had to at least wear a sky blue suit whenever he was in the public eye. The green sash crossing his chest always got caught in things, too, and his hair had to be neat, no longer messed up looking from strong winds.

Stupid Anju. He liked her, but if Tetra wasn’t friends with the Lokomo, he would rip off the charade of dressing nice as soon as she turned her back.

Anyway, the coronation. They had already been crowned a couple hours ago and were now just throwing a party. He danced with his wife and his sister, ate some really good sea food, and had a great time.

He walked outside for a breath of fresh hair. He was relaxed until he saw a small figure running in the darkness, right toward him. As the figure moved closer, he could make out that is was a blond kid in green pajamas with bright blue eyes. What was he doing out there alone? He looked only six, definitely not an age to be running in the dark.

“Sir, sir!” The kid shouted, waving for Link’s attention, though he already had it, “I need your help!”

“Woah,” Link stopped the kid from running into him and crouched down to be at his level, “what’s the matter?”

“There’s-there’s a-in the woods,” the kid was panting, pointing behind to the direction he came from, “sir!”

“Calm down,” Link chuckled, “I can’t help if you can’t say what you need.”

“Sir,” he nodded and collected himself, “do you know where I can find a knight?”

A knight? A quite literally medieval concept that he and Tetra were only talking about bringing back. They had the pirates, who were acting like guards, but no knights. The kid read too many stories, probably.

“No, but I can still help you,” he answered, “I am the best swordsman in the country!”

“Really?” The kid’s eyes sparkled with awe, “then, come with me, sir!”

Without even waiting for a response, Link was dragged away forcefully from the party. He was tempted to quickly call back to his wife, let her know where he was going, but he shrugged it off. He wasn’t going anywhere for longer than five minutes, there was no harm.

“What is your name?” He tried to make conversation.

“Sorry, sir, for not telling you,” the kid blushed, “I’m not good at introduc-introd-saying my name. I’m Link Faronne!”

Link, eh? What are the odds?

Zero. Zero is the the odds, since Link had met everyone in the ocean when he was a kid and there were no other Links.

Though, that was six years ago, enough time for the kid to have been born. He must’ve left a good impression on someone.

“What’s your name, sir?”

He didn’t know? Not to me vain, but everyone on the country, at least near the castle, had to know about him. He became their king less than 12 hours ago!

“Link of Outset,” he replied, dumbfounded.

“We have the same name. That’s so cool! Were you named after your dad, too?”

Okay, yeah, something was up.

“Where are you from, Link?” Link asked, this was going to get confusing.”

“I live in Castletown!” He said proudly, “with my mama, until papa comes home from serve-service.”

They hadn’t even named the city yet, Castletown was one of the possibilities. Add that with his name, the thing about the knights, this kid couldn’t be from New Hyrule.

“Here we are, sir,” he led him to the edge of a forest. At first, Link wasn’t sure what he was looking for, everything just looked dark, then it was so bright. It was daytime.

“Magic?” He turned around and saw that he had somehow walked through a dark portal, the kid following after him.

“Don’t go in, sir. It could be dangerous.”

What was going on?

There was no time to investigate, for monsters were growling in the new terrain. Link pulled out his phantom sword, he always kept it on him, and he saw the kid pull out a tiny knife.

“A little warrior, huh?” He smiled, “stay back, please.”

“But I can help,” the kid put on a front of courage, “I wanta-want to help like my papa.”

“Battlefield is no place for a child,” hypocritical, he knew, but this was a six-year-old, “I can handle myself. I’m the Hero of Winds!”

He was somehow more awestruck than before, “but, that’s just a legend…”

The questions that filled his head over the next couple minutes wouldn’t be answered until they met others like them.

-

The Four heard someone crying outside of their shop. It sounded like a young kid, which was strange since no one lived near.

“Maybe it’s a weird sounding cat,” Blue suggested. He just didn’t want to get up from bed.

“Let’s check it out,” Vio said. He knew they wouldn’t be able to sleep with that noise outside.

“Please,” Red begged. He knew that someone was hurt outside.

“Alright,” Green groaned and Link got out of bed.

Fishing around in the low light of the house, Link grabbed his jacket, though he forgot to tie it up. The four squares of color swished in the air and gave him a look similar to that of a carnival performer. His hair really needed to be cut, because he old headband was now being used as a hair tie for his nearly foot long hair.

Walking outside with a lantern, he found a boy, around nine or so, huddled behind the house. He was crying, rocking slightly and buried in a long green sweater tunic. He had light brown hair, or dirty blond, depending how you looked at it, and he was no one Link recognized.

“Are you okay?” Red’s personality came out, “why are you crying?”

The boy looked up, “I-I don’t know where I am…”

“You’re behind my shop,” Vio spoke, “where’s your family.”

“I don’t have one, I live at the academy.”

Academy? He must’ve been talking about the school in Castletown. He didn’t know the school took orphans.

“Why are you here and not at the school?” Blue wanted to know.

“I can’t feel,” he hiccuped and more tears fell, “I can’t feel my loftwing! And the world is so big-why is it so big? Where is the cloud barrier?”

“What is a loftwing?” Green blurted out. That did not help, as the boy was crying even more.

“He’s been with me for a year now. Why would he leave?”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Red pat him on the back, “why don’t we talk and then we can find your loftwing. What’s your name?”

“Um-“ a cough “-Link.”

Red smiled, “my name’s Link, too! Most call me Four now, so there won’t be any confusion. How’d you get here.”

The next words shook Four to his core.

“A dark portal opened up suddenly and I tripped.”

A dark portal…it couldn’t be.

“It was so dark out that I couldn’t find where it was to go back and I ended up here. Can you help me find it? My loftwing must be back there.”

“O-of course,” Four agreed, “let’s wait for sunrise and we’ll find it together.”

-

Time, Legend, and Hyrule had been traveling with each other for a week now and they had met no one else like them. They were relieved, thinking that Hylia actually got adults to do her work, until…

“Warriors, slow down!” Two figures ran out of the portal where the three were camped by. One was an adult, dressed more fancily that he could pull off, and the other was a little kid, one that looked like he had been in the woods for a week like they had been.

“Sorry, sir,” the kid, Warriors, stopped and saw the new people, “hello!”

“Hi?” Legend waved a hand uncertainly.

“You really need to wait for me,” the adult ran his fingers through his hair, “and stop calling me sir.”

“Okay, sir!”

“So,” he looked at the three, “what year is it?”

Time shrugged, “time is fluid and ever changing, does the year really matter?”

Legend rolled his eyes, “I knew you were a hippy, kid.”

Hyrule sighed, “we don’t know. Who are you two?”

“I’m Link, this is also Link,” Warriors chimed, pointing at each of them.

“We’re going by Wind and Warriors for the moment,” Wind corrected, “who are you?”

“I will murder Hylia. A six-year-old?!”

“What?”

And the two groups became one, each one explaining how they were just trying to get back to their own time, no goal in mind. They also all agreed that Warriors took precedence and that should be looking for his Hyrule first and foremost.

“Just because I’m a kid doesn’t mean I can’t defend myself,” he pouted, pulling out his knife.

“Aw,” Legend cooed at Time, “he sounds like you.”

“I’m 22?”

“A baby.”

With that, they hopped through another portal.

-

Four and the newly named Sky figured out their positions pretty quickly. Four knew the legends of Skyloft and everything Sky said added up, so they knew they were looking at time travel, not worldly travel. He couldn’t help but be slightly disappointed.

Vio made a map of all the portals they went through, trying to keep track of how to get back to their original one, but they kept changing or moving. They could be anywhere from the birth of creation to the end of time and it would be just as easy from point a to point b.

“Four,” Sky asked one day, “why is the world this big?”

Vio wanted to give a scientific answer, but Green decided that it would bore the boy.

“It just is,” he told him, “Skyloft was once apart of the earth, so it had to be bigger than your home to begin with.”

“I wonder if I’ll get to see the surface. When I get back to my time, that is. No one’s been below the clouds before, Zelda’s gonna be so jealous!”

Zelda, the first one, was like an anchor to Sky. Anytime he was upset, Four would just ask him about his friend and he would light up. She was scholar in the making from the sounds of it, and a bit of a fighter. They both went to the academy together and were hoping to become knights.

“Maybe you should take things back for her,” Red said, “show her things from this world.”

“Yeah!”

A somewhat calm evening was ruined when five people burst out of the nearest portal, scaring the living daylights out of Sky.

One of them, a man in a red coat, groaned, “how many children are there?”

And five became seven.

-

“Come out, come out wherever you are,” that sickening voice was getting closer and closer, “come out little hero…”

Link curled himself around his brother, he needed to protect him no matter the cost. His brother was whimpering, sensing the danger. Barely three and he already had to deal with the messes of the adult world.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he lied to himself and to his brother, “we’re going to be okay.”

“‘m scared,” his brother whispered.

Link nodded in agreement, shushing as the bushes shifted beside them. They were going to be okay, they were going to be okay, they were going to-

“Gotchya!” The voice of the Yiga member spat out with delight. His clothed hand reached into the bush and grabbed his brother by the scruff of his collar. “C’mere, hero!”

“No!” Link was too weak and couldn’t hold on. His brother screamed and pleaded for help. “Let him go!”

He got out of the bushes and tried to think of a plan, but was immediately kicked back. Slamming into a tree, he weakly reached forward.

“It was pointless to run from the Yiga,” the Yiga laughed, “I can’t believe this worked so swimmingly. Run along, boy, you needn’t die today.”

“Let-ugh-my brother go!”

“Brother?” He gripped his hand tighter on the 3-year-old, “the hero doesn’t have a brother, he has a sister.”

It was creepy that he knew that.

“You have the wrong hero, then,” he lied, “please, we did nothing to you!”

“Correct,” the Yiga was smiling under his mask, “and I’m here to make sure it stays that way.”

He raised his sickle above his head, ready to strike. What could Link do? What did Rusl teach him about unarmed offense?

Courage suddenly overtook him, something deep inside of him unlocked, and a look of preemptive vengeance grew in his eyes. He had stopped stampeding goats before, a murderess cult member’s legs could be flipped like a goat’s horns if he was creative. A sickle was just a curved sword, and he could wield that easily.

Link didn’t remember what happened next, just that his brother was scared and he needed to save him.

-

The seven Links didn’t know what they were expecting when stepping out of the portal, but a dead tired teenager huddled asleep under a makeshift camouflage net with a toddler in his arms was not it.

The teen was about 14 and was wearing clothes that were hand me down. His hair was dirty blond, darker than Sky’s, and he had a blanket being used as a pillow, a blanket that resembled some sort of fur.

The toddler could’ve looked better. He was starved for a good meal and needed more water, but he was looking better than the teen, who looked like absolute death. He had a simple shirt and jeans on, decorated with geometric colors at the hems, and he had messy blond hair, so messy that it probably had never been washed in his life.

“What is with the children!” Legend put spaces between each word to emote his anger. Every single person they met next to these portals were either a hero or clearly had some significance to their existence. Sky was from a time that sounded like a fairy tale and Warriors knew of every single hero, going so far as to declare Sky the Hero of the Skies from the stories. Why wouldn’t it be the same for these two?

“Is that-no,” Four pointed at a stain on the teen’s shirt, “that can’t be blood. Are they injured?”

“We should help them,” Hyrule declared.

“With what potions, old man?”

“I know healing magic,” he stated simply and went to wake the two up.

“So when I was almost dying from a lynel attack you could’ve done something?! The hell, old man?”

Before Hyrule could lay a finger on them, the teen jumped up, brandishing a sickle that smelled of iron. Instinctively, the teen put himself as a barrier between the toddler and the strangers. The toddler was still sound asleep.

“Who are you?” The teen gritted his teen.

“Yeah, they aren’t injured,” Wind said, “he definitely killed a guy.”

The teen’s eyes watered up before going back to a glare. He lowered his stance, ready to pounce like a wolf.

“I just wanted to help,” Hyrule raised his hands in defense, “we were worried you were hurt and I know healing magic.”

“We’re good, thanks,” malice dripped off the words.

Warriors stepped forward, walking against Wind’s protective hand, “do you at least need food? We have some.”

“Leave.”

“My name is Hyrule,” Hyrule continued, “this is Warriors. The others are Wind, Legend, Time, Four, and Sky. Who are you?”

“Why do you care?” He pressed the weapon closer to Hyrule and his eyes darted around, looking for an escape exit.

“We want to help. What are your names? Is it Link?”

The teen started to breathe heavily, “you’re that cult, aren’t you? You’re the Yiga! Stay away!”

“Yiga?” Hyrule was shut up by a slash to the cheek. Hissing, he grabbed his face as the teen took the toddler into his arms and ran. They took note that he picked up the fur blanket.

Silence. Hyrule used his magic to heal up the slash, only leaving a light scar of where it was. The others were deciding what to do.

“They were definitely named Link,” Time stated, “why else would he react like that. Hyrule, you said you had a cult, is this your Hyrule?”

He shook his head, “there’s a cult, but it isn’t called the Yiga.”

“Did you have to mention he killed somebody?” Four turned on Wind, “that probably scared him.”

Wind winced, “yeah, that was my bad. He probably killed a Yiga-person-thing from how he reacted when saying the name.”

“The sickle,” Four recalled the weapon, he had a huge memory of weapons in his head, “it wasn’t his, he held it wrong.”

“Do you think they are going to be okay?” Sky pulled on Four’s jacket, “they didn’t look so well.”

“Of course they are,” Warriors interrupted before Four could respond, “that’s the Hero of Twilight! Did you guys see the fur, the Hero of Twilight is always drawn having one.”

“Who’s the toddler?” Wind asked.

He made an “I don’t know” noise.

“We should find them,” Legend said, “make sure they don’t kill themselves.”

-

Run, run, run! That was all that was going through Link’s head. His brother had awoken the moment he picked him up and was now trying to ask what happen.

“Why we’re running?” He asked hazily.

“Shush,” he tried to calm him, and failed, “we need to hide.”

“We did hide.”

“We have to hide again,” he had to stop to breathe.

What was he going to do? Those Yiga members were going to come after them, he knew, and there was no way they could outrun them. He didn’t want to kill again-he didn’t want what happen to the last guy to happen again…he had no choice, it was a life or death situation.

There was only one option now, if he didn’t want to kill. Be a distraction, let his brother escape.

“Listen to me,” he sat him down and looked him in the eyes, “you need to keep going without me. See that town?”

In the distance was some lights that hinted at civilization. They were by no means close, but travelers had to be near and going to the town, too. His brother nodded.

“Run,” he stated simply, “run and try to find someone to help you. I’ll meet you in a bit.”

“But-“

“No buts,” he frowned, he hated the idea of leaving a three-year-old, someone who could barely even run, all alone. It was better than dead. “Please. When I meet you, I’ll take you back to my place with all the goats.”

“Big sheep!” He cried, giggling when Link tickled him.

“Yeah,” he smiled bittersweetly, “the big sheep. Go!”

His brother took one last look at him and scurried away. It was awkward, he tripped a couple of times, but he would be far enough away when the Yiga would catch up.

“Hylia,” Link prayed, “help him, please.”

-

“How fast can this kid run?” Legend complained. The path the teen had made was an obvious one, broken branches strewn everywhere, but it was a long walk from where they started.

“He thinks we’re trying to kill him,” Hyrule pointed out, “I would run even faster.”

“Can I just go ahead,” he pointed to his pegasus boots, “I’ll just grab the gremlins and be back in a second.”

“Like we’d ever leave you alone,” Time smirked, “you’d blow up the entire forest.”

“You would too, don’t deny it.”

“You guys are all outclassed by Warriors and Sky in responsibility and that worries me,” Four said.

Wind high-fived the proud six-year-old.

Then, they found the teen. He was alone, no toddler in sight. His fur was no wrapped around his shoulders, almost created a cloak with how big it was compared to him.

“Where’s the kid?” Legend asked.

“That is the most threatening way you could’ve asked that,” Hyrule put his head into his hand.

“We’re not here to hurt you,” Warriors smiled, “we’re here to help!”

“Yeah,” Sky nodded.

The teen was silent the whole time, barely making any change in his body. He was glaring at them all individually, never looking anywhere else.

“Link,” Four started before the teen finally moved.

“That’s not my name.”

Really? “Then what is it?”

“I don’t know.”

“You are a terrible liar,” Wind chuckled.

The teen gritted his teeth, “I have amnesia, I don’t know my name.”

“Amnesia?” Warriors questioned, that never happened to the Hero of Twilight, but it did happen to the Hero of the Wild, just not at this age. More proof that he was lying, he decided.

“Yes,” the teen asserted, “but I know I am not called Link.”

“How do you know that?” Legend crossed his arms, “can’t rule out the possibility. What’s the kid’s name?”

“I don’t know. Not Link either.”

“What have you been calling him then?”

“I…don’t know?”

It continued like that for a while, they would ask a question and he would respond with the same thing. He didn’t know where they were from, why there were here, or what even the Yiga were. The lies were only there to annoy them to death it seemed.

“Just leave us alone!” He finally broke and shouted, “he didn’t do anything.”

“Yet.”

“Legend, could you sound more omnious?”

“Look-“ Legend took one step forward when a scream sounded off from the trees. A small figure came clambering forward, moving faster than should’ve been physically possible, and stabbed him in the leg. “What the f*ck?!”

The figure zoomed away and stood in front of the teen, revealing itself to be the toddler from before. He looked angry and fearful, shakily holding a knife in his hand. The teen looked confused as to why he was there.

“L-Wild!” He chastised, “why are you here?”

“I needed to help!” The toddler, Wild, looked at him, “I help family, and you said we’re brothers.”

“This is dangerous! You need to run.”

“Why?”

“You’re brothers?” Legend sat down, inspecting his wound, “I wish I had a brother who let me stab strangers. I repeat, what the f*ck?”

“Get behind me,” he pushed Wild behind him, there was no sending him back now.

“His name is Wild,” Warriors whispered to Wind, telling him the stories he knew, “the Hero of the Wild is supposed to be friends with the Hero of Twilight.”

“The name’s probably a coincidence,” Wind thought out loud, “but you might be right, anyway.”

“Twilight!” Warriors shouted, grabbing the teen’s attention, “these guys are heroes, you can trust them. Look, Legend has the Master Sword and that’s the Hero of Time. You have to know that!”

“It’s the tempered sword or some junk now,” Legend huffed, chucking his sword, an evolved form of the Master Sword, onto the ground. Time waved, letting his appearance be evidence of who he was.

“Nice to meet ya, kid,” he smiled, “refrain from stabbing me and we’ll get along fine.”

“The Hero of Time?” Twilight’s eyes widened, “h-how…who are you people?”

“Not Yiga,” Hyrule assured and started the story.

Twilight picked up Wild and they both listened, Wild only understanding about half of it. They gave more evidence of their heroics, but the Master Sword and Time was all Twilight needed. He didn’t fully trust them, but at least he knew they wouldn’t kill him and Wild.

“What does this have to do with us?” He asked hesitantly, “I’m just a farm hand who walked through a portal on accident.”

He found Wild soon after, curled up in a ditch, covered in mud. He had been attacked and went to hide. They had been traveling for nearly a year together now, hiding and fighting, never being able to stay still. Wild didn’t know where his family was and their names didn’t do much in such a big Hyrule, so they were still looking. They had become as close as brothers, so Twilight started to use that term. They never went through another portal, both sensing the danger that could be behind.

“Everyone we have met is named Link,” Four said, “you can drop the act, we know that that is your names, and that usually means they’re a hero, at least in the future.”

“This is the Hero of the Skies!” Warriors hugged Sky, “but not yet. I don’t know what hero I will be, but I hope I’m a strong one!”

Wind playfully ruffled the kid’s hair, much to his discomfort.

“Warriors has labeled you two as future heroes,” Wind added on, “the tyke is the Hero of the Wild and you are the Hero of Twilight.”

So that’s why that been calling him Twilight. Wild was just a split second name that felt right for Link, he was so rambunctious, but he never knew of any Hero of the Wild.

He didn’t know how to take that information.

“We just need to find Wild’s home,” Twilight told them, “we’re not interested in whatever you have planned.”

He stood up, looked at Wild and gestured to the injured hero.

“Sorry for stabbing you,” Wild mumbled, “but you deserved it.”

“Thanks, kid,” Legend said sarcastically, “I’ve never punched a baby before but-“

“Legend!”

“Can it, old man!”

“Why don’t we help you find his home,” Time offered, “those Yiga you were talking about seem like their out to get you, so you could use extra protection.”

“Um,” Twilight thought it over in his head, for some reason he trusted the kind smile of the young adult, “sure. It’s a big Hyrule, though, so I don’t know if some of you elders could handle it.”

Hyrule rolled his eyes, why did every hero pick on the elderly.

And so, seven became nine, for the time being. Four heroes who have yet to be and five who have no idea what is going on, they should get along swimmingly.

Chapter Text

If you had asked Time at different stages in his life if he ever though about having kids, he would tell you no for different reasons.

Back with the Kokiri, he would say no because at the time he thought he couldn’t have kids. To him, life was sprung from the Great Deku Tree and only adult Hylians could have children. Oh, how naive he was.

After saving the world, he was honestly shocked he was alive past 12, mentally and physically. Heading to Termina and falling down that rabbit hole made him 100% sure that he wasn’t surviving to a second adulthood.

He made it, strangely enough, and he even had a girlfriend, but...he had flashbacks, nightmares, stuff that kept him up at night. There was no way he’d ever be able to have kids in that condition.

Now...well, he wasn’t sure he wanted them because the eight fellow heroes he had met were enough of a handful. Everyone was over ten, yet they had less control than he did at that age. That or he was lying to himself about how much trouble he was.

The first time someone confused him for one of the heroes’ father, he was confused, but not in hindsight. For the most part, they all looked alike, blond or blondish hair, minus Hyrule, and an affinity for trouble, so it was bound to happen at some point.

He just wished it wasn’t because one of the boys went and stole something.

“Wind,” Time looked down disappointingly at the youngest in the group, “answer me. What did you take?”

Wind hid his hands, “nothing! This guy is just lying, I never touched that necklace!”

“You filthy brat!” The shop keep sneered, “I saw you swipe up my gossip stone, now pay up before I make ya.”

They were in some shopping row in Warriors’ confusing Hyrule and Wind had slipped away at some point. Time had nothing better to do and was relieved to have an excuse and stop talking to Ruto that he left immediately to find him. This creepy looking shop keep had been holding the kid’s wrist hard and yelling about a thief, so he naturally stepped in.

“Give him back the item,” he said in a stern voice, “and we will talk about this later.”

“But-“

“Listen to your father, kid,” the shop keep interrupted.

“He’s not my father!” “We’re not related.”

Wind and Time looked at each other as they spoke in sync, Wind looking away ashamed quickly afterward.

“Look,” the shop keep massaged his temples, “I could care less about your bastard son, I just want my merchandise.”

“Just because you assumed we are related,” Time’s eye flared at the insult, “doesn’t mean you can throw insults at a child. Wind, hand it over. Now.”

Wind looked at what he had in his hands before slowly placing it on the table. It wad a glowing blue crystal wrapped in fishing net that could make it a necklace. There was a crack that showed fractures on the inside of the stone.

“I apologize for inconveniencing you,” he walked away, dragging Wind behind him.

The walk back to where the others were was an awkward one. Wind refused to look Time in the eye and Time just stared him down the whole way through. Finally, he stopped walking and placed a hand on the kid’s shoulder.

“Why did you try and steal that gossip stone? We could’ve bought it.”

Wind said nothing.

Time frowned, “c’mon, kid.”

“It’s not even a real gossip stone,” he mumbled, “it’s a luminous stone. He wouldn’t have missed it, it was practically worthless compared to the real thing.”

“Then why would you want a fake?”

Wind stomped his foot, “you didn’t hear him? He was shouting about how he had a souvenir from the war. A memento from the Hero of Winds! He was trying to sell stuff by saying it was mine!”

That wasn’t that surprising in this Hyrule. The war was somewhat a spectacle with all the fantastical characters who fought in it, so there were bound to be people selling things like that. Time saw some replica Kokiri Blades earlier, which was an eerie sight to behold. Still, that didn’t explain why Wind would go straight to stealing.

That’s when he noticed Wind was crying.

It wasn’t much, but there were definite trails of tears on his face. It was somewhere between an angry and a sad cry. He was angry at the shop keep for selling that fake and he was sad about...whatever the root of the problem was.

Time, without thinking, hugged him. Wind froze up before latching his tiny arms around his gigantic armor.

“I-I haven’t fought in that war yet,” he sobbed, “I was scared-I would never leave that behind-that I was-that I had-died! I needed to know it was fake.”

Time was speechless. He was on the opposite end of the spectrum, having already fought in the war as a child, but Wind knew his future with the amount of certainty as a five rupee fortune. Anything could happen to him, and he was afraid of that.

They hugged for a little longer, Time whispering that everything would be okay. Warriors would’ve mentioned if he died in battle and there would be no way he would even let that happen. Wind had to live, to see the founding of New Hyrule.

Once he was calmed down, Wind pulled out his own gossip stone and held it tightly.

“Am I in trouble?” He asked softly.

Time smiled bittersweetly, “not this time, just don’t make a habit of stealing fake goods.”

“Okay,” Wind nodded, “thanks, dad.”

His eyes widened once he realized what he said, but Time just laughed, ruffling his hair playfully.

It was a mistake, Time told himself, in the heat of the moment. Little did Time know he had just adopted an entire clan of the saviors of Hyrule.

-

Legend definitely didn’t have family issues, nope! His uncle didn’t die in front of him and left him mentally scarred, he didn’t learn that his sister was the Princess after a decade of not knowing, and he most certainly was fine not knowing who his parents were. He lived alone because he liked it, not because he never had anyone to live with.

Ravio would say denial ran in his family, but there wasn’t much proof of that. Still, it was hard to disprove, on account of the no family thing.

When Legend was suddenly forced to spend months at a time with eight other people in close quarters, he wanted to rip off his head and chuck it through a time portal. These people were insufferable! One kept stealing his mirror shield to check his looks and one of them was obviously a wolf in secret. That was only two of the problems he had with all of them. The worst, though, was Time.

Time, the Hero of Time, the Hero of Termina, the one all heroes are named after because he was just such a good dude! Not in Legend’s or Hyrule’s times! To them, Time was a failure that reduced their homes to ash. Before meeting him, Legend hated the Hero of Time’s guts. Now...Hylia damn it, why was he so nice!?

No matter what he did, every action from Time was as golden as his hair. In every battle he made perfect moves and, if he didn’t, he would fix any mistake so flawlessly that Legend wasn’t sure if it was a mistake. He had a happy life, a happy wife! Everything about this guy was so perfect, he didn’t get it.

That is why, whenever Time looked his way, he would snarl. He would growl at the mention of his heroism. He would shove his blanket over his head to block out the beautiful music that he sometimes played from his ocarina when he thought no one was up. (Jokes on him, Legend never slept more than an hour at a time.)

All of that made it even more incomprehensible why Legend still liked this man. Even keeping his distance did nothing as he was always secretly listening, obviously against his will, to whatever he said. He followed his rules to a letter and followed behind his lead in dire situations.

But he put a limit on pretending to be his child!

He was an idiot, got hit by a monster he didn’t see coming, and they had no potions. Luckily, they were clearing out monsters for a town and there was a villager waiting nearby to see how they were doing. This villager saw the blood and got a medic to take Legend into their infirmary.

It was a free stay and treatment, as thanks for them helping the town, but there was a slight issue. Legend was going stir crazy without he items, which had been taken away while he was unconscious, and, if he couldn’t have any of that, he needed to talk to someone. He couldn’t be stuck in a room for hours without something to do.

Another issue was, well, they wouldn’t let anyone but family into his room. Something about safety and the chances of foreign diseases being spread or some nonsense. The Links argued that they were the closest thing to family Legend had at the moment, which isn’t completely false, but they wouldn’t take anything less than someone claiming to be his blood relative.

So finding Time sitting next to his bed on day three of his stay was strange.

“Uh,” he raised an eyebrow as he sat up, “what are you doing here? I thought...”

The words trailed off, the intent of his question already clear. Time shifted in his seat, he had been there for a while, waiting for him to wake up.

“I am now, apparently, your father,” he rolled his eye, “it’s nice to find out I had a kid only 74 years into my life.”

“Wait, you’re 74-wait, my father?!” The age thing was thrown in to soften the blow, Time knew he’d be upset at the implications. “Why? How? You lied, what for? They believed you?!”

He shrugged, “Hyrule volunteered to be your brother, but he had already admitted to being just a friend, so did most of everyone else.“

“Okay, but what did you tell the medics?”

“It was actually Hyrule’s idea.” Legend was going to murder Hyrule later. “He pointed out that, since I’m the oldest, I could pass as a father. He also said we shared a resemblance.”

“Really?” Legend laughed, he didn’t see it.

Then it hit him. They both had spiked blond hair, their eyes a similar color, and Time was certainly, or at least looked it, old enough to have a 17 year old kid. Maybe it was also the saltiness of both of them that helped the case of parenthood.

“I also showed them a picture of Malon,” Time chuckled, “told them you get the pink hair from her.”

Legend fiddled with the singular strand of pink hair, regretting redying it recently so that it looked more red than pink at the moment. He wanted something to do, someone to talk to, but why did it have to be him!

“Well,” he nodded toward the door, “thanks, but no thanks, you can go and tell them that you lied. I have a brand to keep you see, being an orphan gets me free food at some orphanages...”

He stopped talking, a painfully obvious lie considering his Hyrule didn’t even have orphanages. In his time, you just lived on your own, no matter how young you were.

“If you want me to leave, I will leave,” Time told him, “but it will be a boring week without someone here at least in the room with you.“

“Fine,” Legend plopped back onto the pillow, “I’m not calling you dad, though.”

“That’s alright,” Time smirked, “besides, we can use this time to get along better.”

“Ugh, you sound like a dad. Please stop!”

It was not that unbearable a week as it turned out.

-

Warriors never thought he’d see the day where the little kid he met in the war would be a grown man. He also never thought he’d see the day where that little kid became older than him, yet here they were.

One day, he was waving goodbye to an 11-year-old with a sarcastic fairy, the next he was being introduced to the Hero of Time, fairyless and ageless. He almost didn’t recognize him, but he would never forget that haunting expression in his eyes.

He always thought of himself as an older brother to Young Link. That all changed when visiting his Queen.

“Captain?” Queen Zelda looked surprised to see him, especially being followed by six strangers, one who looked like Sir Ravio, and a younger Toon Link, “what brings you here?”

“The mission I have asked leave for is going on way too long,” he bowed his head, “I humbly ask for more time off so that I may silence the threat that still lurks.”

“Of course, you can have all the time in the world,” she smiled, “now, who are these men? Does Sir Ravio have a brother? It is nice to see you again, Toon Link.”

“*Sir* Ravio?” “Toon Link?”

“No,” Warriors smirked at Legend’s annoyance, “Legend here is Ravio’s opposite from Hyrule. Toon hasn’t fought in the war yet, he goes by Wind.”

“Oh,” Queen Zelda clasped a single hand over her mouth, “I should silence myself before revealing his future then.”

“That’s alright,” Wind spoke up, “I already know what happens, mostly. Tetra and Warriors have told me all about the war.”

“And Warriors is the name I was given,” Warriors explained quickly, “I did not choose it.”

“It’s fitting,” she looked the group over, “since T-Wind and Legend are heroes, am I right to assume these are other heroes as well?”

“Right as every, your Majesty.”

“Then, let me see if I can figure out who is who.”

She pointed at each Link individually, guessing from her memories of the legends. She got Wild right off the bat, claiming that Cia, being the creep she is, stole some of his clothes and that was the only part of his world that was brought to this time.

“My clothes, specifically?” Wild questioned, “when?”

“That is always the question,” Warriors joked.

Next, the Queen guessed Hyrule, pointing his plain looking clothes as a factor. That would’ve been an insult if not for the fact that Hyrule was known for being a modest person all throughout time. She then got Sky, from talking to Fi. After giving a sad smile to the man, Twilight was left confused at what she was hiding about him. She admitted to sadly not knowing anything about the boy in the multicolored tunic.

“But this man,” she smiled brightly, “I have never seen him before-“

Warriors wanted to laugh, little did she know about the Kokiri child grown up.

“-but this must be your father, right, Captain? It is an honor, Sir Faronne.”

What?

“Wait, Warriors’ last name is Faronne?” Wind pointed out the part no one of thinking about right then.

Time simply shook his head, his hair falling over his face and hiding his soft laughter. Warriors’ face grew pink as well, but none of this was noticed by the Queen.

“I figured with the armor and the resemblance,” she waved her hand around vaguely, “you told me once your father was a retired knight himself that I have never had the good fortune to meet-“

“Your Majesty,” Warriors hated to interrupt, Legend would never let him live this down, “that’s not my father. My father’s back in Ordon.”

It was the Queen’s turn to blush, “oh, then my apologies for assuming. It was just how you looked and-well your attitude so far reminds me a great deal of our Captain.”

Time spoke, “I’ll take that as a compliment, your Majesty. Warriors is a great fighter as well as a friend. I do believe we have met before, though.”

“It seems I am losing my head,” the Queen recovered herself and straightened up in her throne, “I feel as if I should know you, but I do not remember meeting anyone like you recently.”

“That’s because it’s been a couple decades.”

“Excuse me, but I am not even two decades old myself,” her eyes narrowed.

“I meant on my part,” Time finished explaining, “if I remember correctly, you used to call me Young Link. These boys have been calling me Time these days.”

“You’re-you’ve grown,” was all she could say before she laughed at the absurdity of confusing what was once a brother as a father.

-

Wild was like a lot of the others, more than he would ever care to admit. When it came to having tragic backstories, that almost seemed like a requirement for being a hero. At least the other heroes could remember their problems. He would kill to remember anything beyond a few blank faces and one terrible night.

He half regretted that statement every time he remembered something new. Some times the memories were good, like swimming with Mipha and Bazz and baby Sidon, but even those made him feel terrible. Other times the memories shocked him out of the the back flash before they were over, like witnessing a comrade die after tracking down a talus. Sometimes he didn’t even remember what he remembered.

He could’ve sworn, combing all those nights he woke up from nightmares and having no idea what they were about, that he was reliving moments in his dreams. Every time he woke up, he could sense that there was something there before it flew away.

That night, that was what happened. He had watch, but he must’ve fallen asleep. One minute he was stoking the fire and the next he was shaking furiously on the ground, flailing like crazy and crying his eyes out.

“Cub,” he heard someone call out to him. Who was that?

“Wild?” Another voice, he couldn’t recognize it.

“Get him away from the fire!” He was near a fire?

He felt someone move him, but he made it difficult. Thrashing around the way he way meant that he would hit anything near. He definitely hit someone in the leg and another he smacked in the face, yet they kept pushing him.

“Cub, listen to me,” that voice returned, he couldn’t recognize it, “you’re safe.”

They grabbed his arms to stop him from moving. No! Let him go!

He broke away from the unknown person and tried to open his eyes. He saw a bunch of strangers all staring at him with concern.

“Where-“ the words locked in his throat.

“We’re in Four’s Hyrule,” a man in a wolf’s pelt said calmly, “about a mile south of Castletown.”

“No,” he shook his head, trying to get the static out of his mind, “where-where’s-“

Where were they? He was supposed to be there!

“Please, cub,” the wolf pelt man place a hand on his shoulder, “lay down.”

Wild jumped back, scrambling away on all fours until he was backed into a tree. The wolf pelt man looked confused at the reaction.

“Who are you?” He asked, “where are they?”

“You don’t remember me,” his shoulders slumped, “who are you looking for?”

“My-my fam-“ he screamed, a splitting headache roaring in his mind. He curled into a ball and shook more, whimpering slightly. “Where’s Aryll?”

“Aryll’s in my Hyrule?” Wind piped up, “how do you know about her?”

“Where is she?” He repeated that over and over again, “where is she? Where is Aryll? Where is my sister? She was supposed to be with me.”

The group all looked at the wolf pelt man, as if they expected him to answer that question. He shook his head, he never knew of any sister.

“Where are they? Why can’t I see their faces.”

Suddenly, a calming, yet authoritative, voice said, “Link, are you okay?”

Wild looked up hesitantly, shaking a little bit less. He couldn’t find the source of the voice, his vision blurred by pain. The voice, though, it felt familiar, he knew who it was.

“Dad?” He looked around, “where are you? Where’s Aryll?”

His dad was a knight, he remembered that much. It was the man in armor who started moving. That man sat down next to him and let him crawl into his lap as he spoke quietly.

“She’s back home,” he lied, not that Wild would know that, “rest now. We have a long journey ahead.”

“Where have you been?” Wild clutched the hem of his tunic tighter, “I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen you.”

“It’s a long story. Sleep, Link.”

And so Wild did. He fell asleep peacefully in what was, to his knowledge, his father’s caring arms.

He woke up the next morning having no memory of the event nor of even having a family that he lost. He simply stood up and made breakfast like normal.

He didn’t know why Time asked to help him cook that day and all of the following.

-

Four was somewhat unique to the others in many ways, but the strangest thing about him, apparently, was that he had a family. He had a grandfather, a father who was still doing his job as a knight, and he technically had four brothers. Because of this, he’d never thought he was fall into the same traps that Wild or Wind had done and think of Time as his dad.

Then his actual dad came into the picture.

Hopping through a portal, the group landed in his time period. At first, he was thankful, a chance to catch up with all of the people he knew, but then he realized where the portal landed them. They were now standing, eight strangers and the Hero of Men, in front of a portal that was clearly dark in origin.

The guards in the room acted in suit to seeing what could be a threat in front of the King and his court, they shoved their swords in their faces.

“Halt!” A knight barked, “reveal yourselves!”

“Uh,” Wind looked himself, “we aren’t hiding?”

“He meant our names,” Four pushed himself to the front, “they’re with me, Caspar.”

“Link!?” The knight, Caspar, backed up and issued the command for all the others to back up.

Four waved to the King, who looked at him with a bemused smile. He had seen a lot in his dad, so he wasn’t that concerned about the portal. Still, he wanted answers.

“Link,” he started, “always a pleasure to see you again. What brings you here in such a, uh, strange manner?”

“That’s a conversation for less people in the room,” Four admitted, nodding his apologies to his friends in the knights, “it’s hard to explain. Just watch this portal, make sure no one else comes out from it, and know all of these guys are my friends.”

“Well,” the King spoke, “let me call forth my daughter and then-“

The doors banged open and two figures rushed in. The first was a girl about Four’s age, but certainly not his height, and wearing a pink dress: Princess Zelda. The second was a tall man in armor and a red scarf. He had a missing eye, covered by an eyepatch, and many scars from the war with the Dark World. Unbeknownst to anyone, a guard left as soon as Four arrived to find these people. Four’s smile grew at the sight of the two.

“Zelda, Captain!” He beamed. He hadn’t seen them in so long. His smile fell when he noticed the frown on the Captain’s face.

“Sir Percival, please,” Zelda was outstretching a hand to calm the Captain, “I’m sure Link has a reasonable explanation for why he vanished.”

“I’ll make sure of that, Princess,” Sir Percival Smith, Captain of the Royal Guard, glared down at Four, who was suddenly feeling a lot more nervous. “Link, where have you been?”

“It’s a long story,” he answered quickly, “I’m sorry for disappearing, but there was this portal spewing monsters and-“

“I thought you grew up past this?” Percival interrupted his stumbling, “you are to call for back up at the first sign of any dark magic!”

“I know, but there wasn’t any time! I couldn’t just leave the portal alone, there were more dangers on the other side.”

“Exactly! That is why you call for back up. We’ve had no idea where you’ve been, you disappeared off the face of the earth from our perspective, nary a thought of where you went!”

The Links, the guards, the Princess, and the King all watched the arguing grow more and more. At the beginning, Four had a respectful demeanor to the Captain, but it steadily fell away to just anger. The Captain, on the other hand, only had a stern look on his face that never changed. His words bit enough that he didn’t have to do anything else.

“Should we interfere?” Hyrule leaned over to Warriors, “I’ve never dealt with a superior.”

“We’d only make it worse,” Warriors whispered back, “I’ve had the same talk given to me many times.”

“It doesn’t even matter!” Four screamed, “I have higher rank as the Hero of Men and I don’t have to answer to you or tell you where I go!”

Just like that, something snapped in the Captain, you could see it in his eyes. Gray hair seemed to grow on his head the second Four said those words. Four himself looked like he regretted saying anything.

“Captain, I’m sorry-“

Percival raised a hand to silence him, “my office, now.”

“But,” he looked to his friends before shuffling forward, “yes, sir.”

Percival nodded to the knights, “men, watch the portal. Do nothing until I return.”

“Yes, Captain!”

“I’ll take care of Link’s...friends?” Princess Zelda looked at the eight, who confirmed that’s what they were, “come with me.”

As Four and the Captain went one way, the Princess and the heroes went the other. Everyone kept looking back at whence they came, wondering what was happening to their comrade.

“Don’t worry about the Captain,” the Princess seemed like herself was worrying, “he’s just harder on Link than anyone else. Everything will be fine.”

“I’ve never seen Four get that heated up,” Sky said quietly.

She laughed, “never met Blue, then?”

“Who?”

“Oh, you know,” she waved her hands nonchalantly, “a friend of his.”

They were lead to a room with four beds and covered in weapons, books, and, weirdly, stuffed toys. It looked like a bedroom for some very diverse children.

“Wait here,” she told them, “I’ll tell Link you are here when he’s done with the Captain.”

“What is here?” Twilight asked.

“Link’s room.”

She left before they could ask any followup questions. Sky, sensing this would take a while, chose a bed and fell asleep. Legend started snooping and Twilight and Wild were talking about something. Wind and Hyrule started to play a game with some of the toys they found and were about to destroy their friendship with fantasy Uno. Time, meanwhile just waited.

For a while. A whole hour passed and nothing happened. Where was Four?

“I am going to go look for him,” he decided and stood up to leave.

“Ask him why he has a plush of a sword!” Legend called after him.

Putting on his stone mask so that he wouldn’t be stopped, Time slipped through the halls of guards and, after searching for a couple of minutes, found the Captain’s office. Even with the door closed, he could hear yelling inside, the argument clearly not over.

“I was fine!” Four’s voice shouted, “look, I’m all in one piece. Technically...oh, don’t you start! I am in one, metaphorical piece! We’re okay, promise!”

Something was off about Four’s voice. He kept jumping octaves randomly and too precisely to be voice cracks. He went from timid to angry in the flash of a second and yet he was also calm and rational.

“Please, calm down,” the Captain said from inside, “this is unbecoming of a knight.”

“Yeah, whatever, I could care less! He’s lying, he cares immensely. I will actively murder you if you don’t shut it, Vio. Blue, shut up!”

Blue? That was the name that Princess Zelda mentioned, but who was Vio? What did they have to do with this.

Silently opening the door, he snuck in. The people inside were too distracted to notice an invisible person pushing open the door. Time turned around and that’s when he saw it: Four fours, all different colors in tone and attitude.

“None of this even matters,” the blue Four, or, well, the Blue of the four, snarled, “I am an adult and can do what I like. If that involves jumping into dangerous situations, then sue me!”

“You are not yet seventeen,” the Captain rolled his eyes, not persuaded by the antics of Blue, “you are not an adult.”

“Actually,” the purple Four, that must be Vio, he had the same calming voice, “we’ve been gone for a couple months, not weeks. We turned seventeen last week.”

“Oh, we did?” The green Four looked surprised at this news, “you’ve been keeping track?”

“You weren’t seventeen when you left,” Percival sighed, “just tell me why you went without at least sending a message, you’re smarter than that. Vio?”

He looked at Vio, who suddenly went silent and refused to look the Captain in the eye. He moved his glance over to the red Four.

“Red?”

“Ahhhh,” Red’s face turned red as he received a glare from three of his brothers, telling him to shut it.

The green Four slapped a hand over Red’s mouth before shrieking.

“You bit me!”

“Don’t put your hand on my mouth, Green!” He stuck a tongue out before looking at the Captain. “We thought...since it was dark magic...that it might’ve been Shadow.”

The Captain’s face fell to an expression of sorrow and empathy. From Time’s position behind them all, he could tell that Red was sniffling. Vio crossed his arms, letting his hair fall in front of his face. Blue looked annoyed and Green looked embarrassed by everything.

“Oh,” Percival knelt to one knee, getting on the four’s level, “I know you miss your friend, but that’s exactly what you can’t do. The Dark World is a terrible place that could kill you in a heartbeat, you can’t risk going in there on the chance Shadow will come back.”

“I-I just,” Red was full on crying now, running into the Captain’s arms and taking a hug.

“It was my fault,” Vio admitted, “I was blind to the consequences and I take any punishment that will come from this.”

The Captain shook his head, “none of you are getting in trouble. Don’t let it happen again, you had me running ragged searching for any signs of you. C’mere.”

Reluctantly, Vio, Green, and Blue scooted near Percival, joining Red in the hug. After a second, there was a flash of light and Four was the only on in the arms of the Captain.

“Thanks, dad,” Four backed away, wiping tears from his eyes.

Dad? In hindsight, that should’ve been obvious to Time, Four had mentioned that his dad wad a knight, too. He’ll just say that he was distracted by Four being literally four. He was definitely going to have to talk to him about that later.

“Now,” Four spoke again, “are we going to address why that door opened five minutes ago and how that carpet as the markings of boots on it?”

“That happened?” Percival stood up, noting that were indents in the carpet.

“You’re just getting old, old man,” Four joked, “who’s there?”

Time removed his mask, placing it back in his bag and revealing himself, “sorry for intruding, I was just making sure Four was safe.”

Percival looked hesitantly at the stranger, not fully understanding how he managed to remain hidden. Magic of some kind?

“Is this one of your new friends, Link?” He asked.

Four nodded, “this is Time, he’s the oldest and the unofficial leader at the moment.”

“I am not the leader,” Time corrected falsely, he was definitely the leader, “I only help the boys stay focus.”

“Huh,” Percival looked over him, “you are also a soldier, then?”

“Yes.”

“Dad, what-“

“Shh,” he raised a finger and continued talking, “will you make sure my son is safe?”

“Dad,” Four whined, “seriously, this is not necessary.”

Percival ignored him, “if I can’t be there for him, I need to know someone is watching out for him. Other than himself, that is.”

“Of course,” Time nodded, “I already make sure everyone is as safe as can be.”

“Do you know what it is like to lose a son?” He pressed further, “it is terrible and worse than dying yourself. Promise me you’ll protect him in my stead.”

“I promise,” he said with a smile and meant it.

Percival sighed, “thank you. You can go with your friends now, Link, but I expect you in the morning for training.”

“Yes, Captain,” Four smiled and looked to Time, who would now be watching him over way more than normal.

-

“You babey.”

Those are the words that Wind had whispered in Sky’s ear one day and it has haunted him ever since. He never explained what it meant, only saying “you babey” over and over again. The worst of it was that everyone kept calling him that.

“I don’t know why you are confused, Sky,” Wild smirked, “it’s just babey!”

“You are saying it weirdly, what does that mean!” He wad going insane. “I am pretty sure you taught Wind what that meant.”

He shrugged, “nah, Wind’s just annoyed because he’s babey himself.”

“SHUT IT, WILD!”

“Warriors,” Sky shouted to the man, “please, we’re friends, right?”

“I-“ Warriors shook his head, “I have no idea what is going on.”

“Ughhhhh.”

Sky slumped to the floor in defeat. No one bothered him for hours, save for Wind hissing at him. It was right before dinner when Time but a stop it the nonsense.

“Wind,” he commanded, “leave Sky alone.”

“But, daaaaaad,” he whined, “I don’t want to.”

“Wind.”

“Fine,” he stomped off and Sky felt Time sit next to him.

“Are you alright?”

“No,” he mumbled, “my time is so different from the others. Is this what it’s like to feel old?”

Time chuckled, “you tell me, I’m 16. What’s bothering you?”

“What does babey mean?”

“Hmm,” he mused, “from context, it seems to be someone who is nice and must be protected. Someone that a person cares for. From that, I would say that, yes, you are babey.”

“Really?” Sky’s eyes flickered, “thanks, I guess. You really are the dad of this group.”

“Now what does that mean?”

-

“Hyrule,” Time’s voice shocked him out of his stupor, “what are you doing?”

“Huh?” Hyrule bolted up, he found himself chewing on a rock in his sleep. Spitting it out, he looked sheepishly at Time. “Weird dream I guess?”

“When was the last time you’ve eaten?”

Hyrule thought about it, “about two portals ago?”

“That was three days ago. When was the last time you’ve had water?”

“It rained yesterday.”

Time groaned, “you boys will be the death of me. Come on, eat some food.”

Hyrule was slow to stand up. During his adventures, back when he lived in a cave, he knew he had to preserve his resources. He couldn’t eat too much because he didn’t know when the next time he’d get food.

Now, he only half lived in a cave, so he was getting better. Four days was a mile ahead of a week and a half of just eating grass.

Time didn’t let him go back to sleep until his ate two meals worth of food. Hyrule wouldn’t lie it was the best he felt in a while.

This happened another day, this time with his internal magical energy storage. They had fought so many monsters that day that he had to waste all of his lightning spells just to survive. He then healed the other Links until he was drained dry.

It would’ve been easy to hide if not for the fact that Time was cleaning his Mask of Truth and saw how he truly felt on the inside.

“Rest,” he demanded, “before I shove a green potion down your throat.”

Hyrule shuddered, even he thought green potions tasted terrible. He passed out as soon as he laid down, grateful for the chance to regain his powers.

The final time this happened, Hyrule wasn’t sure what it was. He felt fine, he had eaten with the group and drank water. They hadn’t even battled that day so he was full of magic. That didn’t stop Time from pulling him aside.

“You need to stop pushing yourself,” Time told him.

“I’m fine?” He raised an eyebrow, “what’s this about? Look, I haven’t eaten a rock in days, Wild would never stop making puns if I did-“

“I meant sleep.”

Sleep? He had slept, when Time got onto him about wasting magic-oohhh. The last time he slept a full eight hours was two weeks ago. He knew he forgot to do something.

Not that he would admit something so dumb to Time of all people.

“I have slept,” he lied, “I’m not even tired.”

“The bags under your eyes are worse than when I was 37,” Time frowned, “your brain’s shot, go sleep. When I said to rest for your magic, that was implied you would sleep for sleep’s sake.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Hyrule yawned now that he realized how tired he was, “thanks, dad.”

As he walked away to fall over, Time blinked.

“Am I really that much of a dad? Malon will never let me here the end of this.”

-

Malon did not like him here the end of it. The next time they went to the ranch...

“I mean, our boy right there!” She cackled, pointed at Twilight outside the window, he was working with Epona’s children, “I knew you had an extra soft spot for him, but all the others! You are going to be an amazing father some day.”

“It’s all a mistake,” Time argued, “none of them meant it when they called me dad. Besides, Twilight...he’s a special case.”

“You mean he’s your favorite,” she teased, “and a mistake? That Wind child came running in and calling you dad left and right, you’ve gone an adopted a whole clan!”

“I don’t have favorites...”

“Just what a father would say!”

He left her to make dinner with Wild again and went outside to see how Twilight was doing with the horses. To be clear, it wasn’t because Twilight was his favorite, just that his horse was.

“Hey, Time!” Twilight beamed at him, “Mala is doing fine and so is Nya, they really seem to like me.”

“They’re gentle,” he agreed, patting one of them on the neck, “unless you try to hurt the other. You’ve should’ve seen the mailman run when he accidentally ran into Nya. Mala chased him so far off that it took us a day to track her down.”

“I can see that,” he said, “need any help with anything?”

“Not particularly,” he grabbed a saddle from the nearby stable, “you want to try a go wrangle the cattle back in their fencing for the night?”

“Sure, I usually do goats, but this should be similar.”

Saddling up the two horses was easy for the ranch hands. Time took Mala, the more temperamental of the two, and Twilight took Nya. The cows liked to spread themselves far and wide so it took a little while to find and collect them all.

As promised, Twilight was a natural herder, sometimes managing to get five cows all at once back into the fencing. In a couple minutes, it turned into a competition between the two, seeing who could get the most through the gates. At the end, Time got 15 and Twilight got 14, just barely falling short.

“That was a good try,” Time called out to him, “give it a few more years and you might beat my record.”

“Yeah, whatever, old man,” Twilight rolled his eyes, “once I get to whatever your age is.”

“Yeah,” a thought flashed in his mind, “where’d you learn how to do all that?”

“Me? It’s complicated,” he started to explain, “heard of the expression it takes a village? Well, I had no parents and was raised by the entire village. Fado taught me how to herd and Bo taught me and Ilia how to saddle a horse, but it was Rusl who taught me how to actually ride.”

Rusl, he recognized that name. Twilight mentioned how he was very close to that man, that he had practically fed and clothed him for as long as he could remember.

“So Rusl taught you all that? He must’ve been a good rider.”

“He was a good fighter,” Twilight corrected, “didn’t know it at the time, but he was teaching me how to not fall off the horse under any circumstances, regardless of injury or danger. Bo taught me about putting on a saddle because for ten years I rode bareback, which Rusl said was in case there wasn’t a saddle to be had.

“Still,” he continued, sighing wistfully, “I couldn’t’ve asked for a better teacher, at the time. He was one of the closest thing I had to a mentor, a father.”

“One of?”

Twilight froze, “I-uh-I had someone else. He was only there for a short time, and I’ve been looking for him ever since, but he taught me some of the most valuable lessons in my life. I wish I could thank him, for everything he’d done for me they way Rusl had.”

Time tilted his head, “I hope you find him, Pup.”

Twilight smiled before shaking his head, “I wouldn’t worry about that. I know I’ll see him again. C’mon, Nya.”

Time walked ahead, trailing Mala behind him and Twilight behind that. He couldn’t see the longing expression Twilight was giving him while he wasn’t looking.

-

It was a peaceful night. The portal appeared in the middle of a forest that was miles away from any towns or cities that could ruin the beautiful night sky. A simple camp was set up and they told stories around the fire, laughing and not having to worry about anything.

“Wind, you are going to love the Second Battle of Willow Creek,” Warriors was telling a story from the war, “we were split apart from the enemy by a single river, no bridge. You volunteered to be the first one to cross using the winds.”

“Did I?” Wind bounced up and down, “please tell me you let me.”

He snorted, “as soon as the words left your mouth you were sailing. The enemy had no idea what to think when a child appeared before them and started destroying their army. Then, Ruto of all people, jumped out of the water when she was supposed to be at the Ocean Temple and drowned the lot of them!”

“That’s nothing,” Legend waved off the story, “have you ever heard of the villainous Queen Ambi, the most feared tyrant for a thousand years?”

“No?”

“Exactly,” he sat back smuggly, “because I went back in time and stopped her before she took control. I literally made my enemy not exist.”

“I did that too,” Sky raised his hand before shrinking it down, “he didn’t stay dead.”

“How does that work?”

“We’ve all killed the same guy,” Twilight poked in, “so let’s not open that can of worms.”

“Well, oh Hero of Twilight,” Legend drawled, “got any stories.”

“I can tell you a lot about this one,” he playfully pushed Wild, who, up to that point, was staring off in the distance, “you know his blood moons? He stood in the middle of a field, no clothes on and no weapons, during the peak of it!”

“Wild, what the f*ck!?” “Why?” “Glad to see you aren’t a coward.”

Wild giggled to himself, “it was a shrine quest, one of the easier one’s. You weren’t even there for when I intentionally struck myself with lightning.”

“YOU WHAT?! CUB!”

“You expect anything different from the guy who thinks freezing to death and getting healed by a fairy is easier than getting a potion?” Four pointed out.

“Hey, I fell down a cliff, not froze to death. I wasn’t going to walk down!”

“You have a paraglider!”

“What about you, Time?” Hyrule looked at the silent man, “you have any stories?”

“None that’d interest you lot,” Time smiled, “I’d rather listen.”

“Really, old man,” Legend didn’t believe it for a second, “spill something.”

Time looked at the group. They had been together for nearly half a year and yet he was close enough to them as he was with Saria when he was a kid. They were all laughing, excited, alive, and it made him feel...proud?

“Fine,” he sat up straight, “I’ll tell you something. This was when I was 231 years old-“

“Lies!”

“Shush!”

“Anyway,” his eye sparkled, “I was patrolling the woods when some strangers found me. They asked for my help in a distant land and to help fight a monster-“

“This is just us, isn’t it?”

He ignored them, “I was hesitant, not wanting to leave the peaceful life I had finally created for myself. But, then I discovered the peaceful life was never for me.”

He looked at Wild and Wind, “I liked it chaotic.”

Warriors and Four, “though, with some order.”

Twilight and Sky, “surrounded by people I care about.”

Legend and Hyrule, “who else would watch after them anyway?”

He leaned back, “I couldn’t be more than happy, right here, with all of my boys.”

An immediate uproar occurred.

“He admitted!” Wind declared, “he admitted we were his kids! He’s officially the dad!”

“Can’t believe you got that mushy, I wanted secrets,” Legend pretended to be miffed but he was secretly touched by the gesture.

“Does this mean I can explode more things? That’s chaos right?”

“Wild, no!”

“You’re no fun, Four. Red would let me.”

“I regret telling you about him.”

While the other bickered, Twilight nodded his thanks to Time from across the camp. Time nodded back and the night continued.

The stars were especially bright that night.

Chapter Text

Link was a bright and happy boy. He was only four years old, but he ran faster than most adults and was already swinging a sword like one. His laugh was brighter than the squeaks of the Picori of legends. Not to mention, how someone barely older than a toddler could sneak into the castle was beyond everyone’s comprehension. Still, the Princess managed to do the reverse just as well.

“Hi!” Link waved at the guards who were blocking the way into the grand building, “can you move?”

One them eyed the other, was this a trick? He never tried to enter through the front door.

“Where is your grandfather, boy?”

Link pointed behind him, all the way back to his house, “at home! Can I come in? Zelda and I are going to play today.”

“Is that so?” The second guard looked at a paper, “it doesn’t say you are scheduled to enter today, or ever. Besides, the Princess is at studies today. Run along.”

He scrunched up his face, “that can’t be right. She said it would be two days before the festival.”

“Must’ve misremembered.”

“Ah! There she is! Thanks, misters.”

The guards gasped as Princess Zelda was spotted waving at them, ten yards down the road and clearly not in the castle. Link stuck his tongue at them, revealing his plan to be a distraction for the Princess to sneak out.

“See ya in two days!” He waved and ran to Zelda, who was already booking it.

One of the guards just sighed, he really didn’t want to chase them again. Maybe he could bribe Gavin to do it today.

They should’ve treasured that smile, they wouldn’t see it for another four years.

-

How someone like him was so close to the Picori, or Minish as they were told, was a true mystery. Last year, they could all believe that Link could see and interact with the creatures only known to those who are good and innocent. But now…he hadn’t been the same since the festival.

No one really knew what happened that day. The castle guards became more harsh, the king went mad for a short time, and the Princess was nowhere to be seen. They all saw the little Link running around, looking disheveled and tired, and talking to things no one else could see, especially his hat.

In many ways, they could see the boy who used to cause such trouble for the entire town. He would help people, like going to get something for them or watching over someone. He would also be the politest he could be.

In any other way, he was completely different. He never smiled and he erratically held onto a sword he made himself, like he was going to be attacked any second. He went out and killed monsters who were threatening the town: a five year old!

Not even the Princess could man him any better. In fact, he seemed worse in her presence. While she talked, grinning about some joke, he would hold onto her hand tightly and glare at anyone who came near.

Then, his behavior turned destructive. He would come back limping into town after midnight, beaten and bruised from fights. At five he was content with fighting common monsters, by six it would be boss monsters, and by seven it was people. Pirates started to attack the country and he would go after them with no hesitation, like he was searching for the adventure that left him emotionally scarred.

His father thought the only way to protect him was to make him a knight. Unprecedented at that age, sure, but his accomplishments outranked any previous rules. His father figured he could command his son into less dangerous positions, that way he wouldn’t sneak away to still fight and would be more safe.

All that did was give him a grudge against authority. He would be ordered to watch the castle and he would run into the alleyways to fight muggers. He turned his nose at any order that didn’t suit him and there was nothing anyone could do to stop him.

Then, one day, the sky broke, the wind went into an uproar, and the apocalypse was nigh. While everyone hid down in fear, Link ran out of town with a purpose. He ran the fastest he’d ever done before, not even bothering to look back at the destruction. He ran against the sun, facing away from his shadow, towards his sanctuary.

That was when the boy’s smile returned. That was when the boy grew even more silent. That was when the boy lashed out of anything that moved. That was when the boy marched forward.

That was when the boy was seen across the country at the same time in five different locations.

The boy was cheerful and brightened up the dark lives that he passed. The boy worked behind the scenes and risked everything to end the terrors. The boy saved countless lives for the sake of it. The boy brought everyone together.

After the nightmare was over, life moved on. Link was grinning, yet more restrained. He listened to his father and was content with becoming Zelda’s personal guard. He dawned a new look, one that clashed horribly, but strangely worked for him, and it was like four years ago and would be like that for four years into the future.

-

Age 12, the Hero of Hyrule twice over, but with different titles, of course. Link stepped further and further away from being a knight. As the years dragged on, he had less of a need to fight, finding more love in research and smithing.

“It’s that Vio’s fault,” his grandfather smiled whenever anyone approached him to ask why the knight wasn’t on duty.

No one ever knew who he was talking about.

Link’s father was all too happy to let his son retire at the ripe old age of 12. He ignored the comments that his son made about how he should retire as well, being the old man that he was. He wouldn’t lie that he was thinking about it.

Life went on in the country with Link on the outskirts. He would be the one dealing with costumers at the shop those days and would go to buy the materials. No one could haggle like him and no one could make weapons like him. Everything he made had a certain magical quality to them.

The Minish were a welcomed party in the Smith household and they were compensated greatly for their contributions.

Zelda would come around every so often to say hi. Once she even tricked Link into making a sword for her, under the guise it was for someone else, and she now proudly carries a rapier at her side everywhere she went.

“Lost my best knight a while ago,” she teased, “gotta have some protection. Thanks, shortie!”

She also loved mocking their height differences. She grew tremendously over the years and Link stayed the same height as ever.

“It was a side affect for saving your life,” he proclaimed.

“And I’m so grateful,” she leaned on his head, “I don’t mean to cut short your achievements.”

He kicked her out of the shop as she howled with laughter.

That night, he closed the shop and was left an empty house. His father stayed at the castle most nights and his grandfather was at the mine’s to find some rare ore. It was quiet and he was alone.

It was alright. His thoughts kept him company. Still, he always liked knowing that there was someone near him physically.

That would change in four years.

-

The bell rang when his back was turned. That was not unusual, as Link, now 16, had just opened his own shop in Castletown. People went in and out a lot, mostly just to say hi, so he didn’t rush to the counter every-time the door opened.

When he heard no familiar voice chime “hello,” he spoke from anvil.

“Welcome to Fourge. Yes , I know about the misspelling on the sign,” it wasn’t a misspelling, but he told people that. That’s what he gets for listening to the Red and Green side of him to make a pun that no one would understand.

“We’re looking for a man named Link,” a gruff voice spoke, “we were told he owned this place.”

He put down his tools and took off his apron. Turning around, he saw a group of eight boys and men, all in varying degrees of gear. Great, adventurers who probably would break half of his stuff without a care.

The man who spoke was looking right at him, a single eye staring at him intently. Behind him there was a man in a pelt who was pulling another away from the weaponed covered wall, murmuring something about not breaking more weapons. A boy, only slightly taller than Link, leaned over the counter, grinning. Two of the people, one blond and one brunet, were debating about whether or not to buy some of the magic powder that was on sale. Finally, two knights were investigating some shields.

“That’s right,” he crossed his arms, “I’m Link, what can I do for you?”

“Great!” The boy on the counter jumped, “I’m also named Link, so is he, and him, and him, and-you get the point. Welcome to the team!”

“What he means is,” the man with one eye raised a hand, “we have a lot to talk about. It seems the gods have called for our service, as I am sure you are familiar with.”

Link gripped his tunic at those words. He then noticed things about these adventurers. The man carried a sword bigger than himself with no effort and the boy also held a sword that radiated magic. The pelt man was being avoided by the invisible minish in the room, but he carefully eyed them, clearly seeing the creatures when no one else took note. The one in a blue fancy tunic was scarred beyond belief, indicating the battles he must’ve seen. The two talking about magic were covered completely in magical artifacts and items that were only believed to be legends. One of the knights was dressed like a captain, but he reminded Link of nobody. The final knight carried a mystical blade that was supposed to have been lost to time.

“Alright,” he leaned onto the counter, “what else do the gods need from the Hero of Men.”

The man’s eye widened at the title before going back to its glare, “ever hear of something called Dark Link?”

It was just how he remembered life at four years old: deadly, disastrous, and daunting. But, just like at four years old, he ran right into that danger. This time he was more prepared, emotionally and psychically, and…well, he wasn’t ever going to be alone again.

Chapter Text

Sky woke up groaning, feeling like he had just been tossed from a thousand feet up. It took him a few seconds to realize that that was indeed what happened. The last thing he remembered was the world going hazing and plummeting off his loftwing.

Opening his eyes weakly, he could make out that he was in a house of some kind. He was on a bed that was absolutely destroyed, probably from him falling into it at high speeds, yet their was no hole in the ceiling.

He tried to sit up, though the pain he felt was too much. His body felt like mush and he wouldn’t be shocked if he broke some bones.

“Link!?” He heard someone call from outside the house. It wasn’t a voice he recognized. “Wake up, sleepyhead!”

Did Zelda send someone? Why wasn’t she here? Where was here?

“C’mon!” Another voice rang, “it’s already past noon.”

Who were these people? He couldn’t even respond, only being able to do a weak groan and no words.

With no answer, whoever was outside barged into the house. Light spilled in and the figure saw the bloody mess of an unknown man in their friend’s destroyed bed.

The person’s scream was the last thing Sky heard before falling asleep.

-

Waking up with a sword to his throat happened way more than Warriors liked. From secret training secessions from Impa, to Sheik keeping him on his guard, to just the enemy breaking into camp, Warriors has learned to use his scarf as a way to hide some chainmail around his neck.

Waking up to a pirate cutlass in front of his face was new, though. Especially since the wielder was a teenage girl who couldn’t yet be 15.

“Alright, ye bastard,” she had an accent of the seas and a glare of daggers, “where’s me first mate?”

“Uh,” Warriors looked around, noticing that he was in a cabin of a boat, miles of ocean stretching out the window, “parlay?”

She scoffed, “please, you can parlay once you get off the ship by walking to the ocean floor. Where is he?”

“Where’s who?”

“Don’t play dumb with me,” she edged the blade closer, “you can’t kidnap a boy, take his place, and pretend to not know what you’ve done.”

“I haven’t kidnapped anyone!”

“Alright,” she pulled something off a clip on her belt, “ye asked for it.”

Warriors’ eyes widened as a pistol was shoved to his temple. He got a good look at the weapon, noting the gold details and the smell of salt all over it.

It was then that he recognized the person who was threatening him. Her blonde hair was down and not in its usually high bun and she was wearing an oversized red jacket, nothing like she had before. The gun though, she was very protective of that in the war.

“Tetra?” He asked hesitantly, “is that you?”

She froze, realization dawning on her too, not being able to recognize the military captain without his fairy, “t-that’s Captain Tetra to you! What are you doing here? Where’s my Link?”

She dropped whatever ridiculous pirate accent and front she put on and moved her weapons away from her ally.

“What’s with the accent is the better question.”

“I can still throw you overboard!”

-

Oh, f*ck, he was going to die.

These were the words flying through Wild’s mind as he did anything but that. One moment he was laying down in the middle of the woods to tend to a fire, the next he was falling out of the sky.

How did he even get about the clouds? That was impressive even for his abilities to somehow manipulate mine carts into a flying machine, but that isn’t what happened here. He didn’t know what happened.

The wind whipped around his face as he searched from his Sheikah Slate, he needed to get his paraglider. Before he could, a loud cawing was heard from above and it was approaching him fast. Looking up, he saw a massive crimson bird that swooped below and caught him in the hair. It was surprisingly soft landing.

“Uh, thanks?” Wild tried not to grip the bird’s feathers too much, “I really hope you aren’t trying to take me to your lair and eat me.”

The bird cawed, which Wild hoped was translation for “no, I am not going to eat you.”

“Okay, okay,” he nodded and looked down below, seeing the ground come closer and closer, just in a more safe manor, “just drop me off wherever, like in the trees if you could. Or I could just jump-“

Suddenly, without warning, the bird took a nosedive straight toward the ground at a 90 degree angle. Wild had no choice but to hold on for dear life as they shot towards what looked like a temple.

-

It took Hyrule about two hours before he realized that anything bad had happened. A record to say the least, shortest time he ever realized something was wrong by a whole day!

He fell asleep camping, woke up camping. He never left the woods from when he fell asleep from what he could tell, so nothing seemed off. He traveled the woods, looking at the flora and fauna, and was doing what he normally did: get lost and hope for civilization.

That’s where he noticed something was wrong. The first town he saw had a castle and way more people than he’s seen in his life. There was no way this was his country. Maybe it was Calatia? He hadn’t seen that place in a while.

“Excuse me?” He asked a passerby as he walked down the path, “where am I?”

The woman’s face scrunched up in disgusts as she spoke in a language she didn’t understand. She tossed him a singular coin and walked away at a brisk pace.

“What the?” He looked at the coin, not a currency he recognized, “what is this place?”

Then, he felt something tugging at his boot.

-

Twilight was in for a rude awakening when he was shoved out of a bed that wasn’t his. Tumbling onto the floor, he bolted up, reaching for where he normally left his sword before falling asleep, but it wasn’t there. This wasn’t his house, the woman holding a sword bigger than her let him know that.

“Who are you?!” She had a strong southern accent, almost like Uli’s, “where’s my husband?”

“My name is Link,” he answered quickly, “I’m sorry but I don’t know how I got here.”

He swore if it was another portal situation like when he first turned into a wolf.

“I swear I fell asleep at my house in Ordon,” he finished, hoping she would believe him.

“Ordon?” She picked out the name, “no place named Ordon that I know about. You said your name was Link?”

“Yes,” he nodded.

“My husband’s named Link,” she said it accusingly, like he stole her husband and his name, like some fae creature.

“Coincidence,” he shrugged, “ma’am, please put the sword down. I’m not even armed.”

She looked at the weapon, like she didn’t even realize she was holding it. She thought it over before finally laying it on the bed with a thud.

“You really don’t know how you got here?” She rubbed her forehead, “my husband was sleeping next to me last night and I never heard anyone come in. Oh, what has he gotten himself into?”

“Him?” That’s not usually the response most people had to a stranger appearing in their house, “who is your husband.”

“No one you would know or should know,” she waved off the question, “now, Ordon?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“What year?”

“What?” She was asking the year? Why? He told her and her face went through the changes of the season from shocked, to miffed, to concerned, and finally to excited.

“Name’s Malon,” she outstretched her hand, “always keen to meet other time travelers.”

What?!

-

Four was ironically experiencing a similar situation. One moment he was sleeping, the next being shoved onto the floor and a woman holding a weapon standing away from him. The difference being that the weapon was a book, she wasn’t actually standing, only sitting on the bed, and she looked to be barely an adult.

“What did you do with Link, Yiga?” The girl bit at him, “where is he?”

“Wait, hold on?” His head was swimming with thoughts, he was camping wasn’t he? How’d he get into a house. “Where am I?”

“You don’t know?” Her anger was an obvious ploy to hide her fear, “how could you not know?!”

He stood up, careful not to provoke her, and was happy to find out that his sword was still him. He slowly picked the sword off of his belt and laid it on the ground showing that he was unarmed.

“My name is also Link,” he explained, “but I go by Four now. Who are you?”

“G-give it up, Yiga!” She tried to melt into the wall, “I know your tricks!”

She did something odd next. There was a fruit bowl next to the bed and she reached over, grabbed a banana of all things, and chucked it across the room. Four watched it sail downstairs before looking back at her.

“What was that for?” That was weird, even by his standards.

Like he passed some test, the girl sighed with relief, “you’re safe! You must be telling the truth about not being Yiga at least. My name is Zelda and you better tell me everything!”

-

Whoever swapped the ocean and a boat for a forest that goes on forever, Wind was going to kill them. He had been walking for hours and there was no sign of anything! This would be the last time he would complain about getting cabin fever on the seas. Anything was better than this.

Trudging through the landscape, he headed to where he saw some smoke trails. Hopefully it wasn’t a monster camp, he was really hungry. He also prayed that whoever they were were really nice. He could play up the lost kid act to his advantage if he wanted to.

Coming to where the fire was coming from, he discovered it was a campfire from actual people! Two girls from the looks of it, one dressed in a pink dress and the other in a red tunic.

“I am putting a bell on that man!” The girl in the pink dress groaned, she looked older than the other, “that or I will lock him in the castle so he won’t ever get lost again!”

The girl in the red tunic giggled, she was fanning the flames of the fire to make more smoke come out, “you love him!”

“No, you love him,” she pushed her friend playfully, “I tolerate him. I swear, when Impa-what was that?”

Wind stepped on a branch as he came out of the trees and waved at the two girls.

“Uh, hey!” He smiled, “you know which direction the ocean is?”

The girl in the tunic deflated, “aw, it’s not Link. You wouldn’t’ve happened to see a man in a green tunic in there, would you?”

Wind pointed at himself, “my name is Link? I haven’t seen anyone else in the woods, I don’t even know how I got here. I was on my ship last I knew.”

“Is that so?” The girl in the dress stood up, starting to circle Wind, “the ocean is nowhere near here. Where are you from?”

“Outset Island?”

She stopped, “never heard of it, you better not be lying.”

“Oh, stop it, Zelly!” The girl in the tunic walked away from the fire, “he’s harmless, we should be more concerned about why someone left a child alone in the woods.”

“We left Link out in the woods.”

“...fair,” she laughed and looked at Wind, “do you know who we are or are introductions necessary.”

Wind raised an eyebrow, “never seen you before in my life. Never seen this country in my life. Where are we?”

“Hyrule, of course,” she giggled, “my name’s Princess Zelda, but you can call me Aurora. This is my great-great-great grandniece, also Princess Zelda, we call her Dawn. It’s nice to meet you, Link.”

As a million thoughts raced through Wind’s hand, he took Aurora’s hand in a stupor. But, as soon as he touched her, she screamed like she had been stabbed and collapsed on the ground, knocked out.

Wind backed away in fear, what just happened? Dawn seethed at him, glaring at him fiercely.

“What did you do?” She snarled, a look that said that this princess was ready to kill.

-

Legend swore to himself up and down that he would never be a knight, never even be a soldier, in the Hyrule army. He turned down Zelda’s many offers of giving him an official position so that he could settle down and not have to scrounge for money, but he refused every time. Being stuck in some barracks or in a fancy castle apartment would be too much for him. Besides, the dungeons were always nearby and that made him nervous.

So, when he woke up in a soldiers’ barracks with multiple men staring at him, he thought he was having a nightmare. It would’ve been a nice change of pace from his usual dreams if that was the case. Sadly, he always knew when he was dreaming and when he was alive.

“Hey?” Legend waved from his forehead with three fingers, “lovely weather we’re having.”

None of the soldiers moved, like they were afraid to do anything. Legend sat up, hand on his sword that never left his person, though he kept it hidden under the blankets of the bed he was in.

“Men!” A stern female voice cried throughout the room, “why are you standing around?”

“General Impa!” All the soldiers moved and saluted, backing away from Legend.

“General?” He repeated as a very tall Sheikah woman walked in front of him.

“And who,” she spat in his face, “might you be? And why, pray tell, are you in our Captain’s bed?”

“The better question is,” he disrespect for authority burst out, “why is your Captain’s bed where I was sleeping?”

The General’s face was clearly not amused, “Derik, Maz, arrest this man. Everyone else, search for signs of the Captain.”

“I’ve been arrested before, never again!” Legend declared proudly and jumped out of the bed, revealing his sword and swinging it at the two soldiers. Someone told the General to step back, but she did no such thing and simply watched the battle unfold.

“Very weak soldiers you got here,” he teased, disarming the two and started to attack the others that came out him, “I shouldn’t be shocked. The castle always hires the worst help.”

The General watched his movements, there was something calculated in them. He acted high and mighty, dramatizing his attacks so any competent fighter could block it if they tried, yet it was clear it was a facade. His eyes never left the true threat, her, and he had a goal in mind.

It hit her too late before she realized he was fighting towards the exit, as he kept moving back and forth to hide his goal. He waved a peace sign and fled out of the barracks, the entirety of its soldiers defeated.

The General marched forward with a sneer, “clean yourselves up and, when you are done licking your wounds, find the Captain. I will find this intruder and bring him in myself.”

She smiled internally, she loved a good chase. Nothing interesting has happened recently.

-

It wasn’t the first time Time had woken up and been told that the world thought him dead. If he had a quarter for every time that happened...well, he would only have two quarters, but it was weird that it happened twice.

He found himself in another man’s house, no wife in sight, and with the taste of dark magic in the air. Looking outside he saw a castle in the distance, one that was very different from his own, and he had two options: time travel or worldly travel. The first option for many wouldn’t even be on the table, but Time had a weird, weird life.

He walked out the house, first making sure no one else saw where he was going, and walked to the castle. When in doubt, he was strangely good at convincing royalty to help him.

Ignoring the looks of passerby’s, all of who were staring at his strange armor and sword, he marched straight to the center of town. There were no guards, which was strange, so he walked in. There was a sign that pointed to the Princess’ office, a really odd thing to do. Knocking on the door, he was let in by the Princess herself.

He was later going to comment about the lack of security to her. This was a high security risk, any stranger being able to walk into the castle with no questions asked.

The Princess, who was about two decades, physically, younger than him and about a foot shorter. She smiled at him and let him take a seat in front of her desk. The warmness of it all really unnerved him.

“What can I do for you?” She asked, sitting in her own chair in front of a large painting of herself but with purple hair and red eyes, “any troubles I can help with?”

“Yes, actually,” Time nodded, “I was wondering if I could ask you an odd question.”

“Anything,” she told him, “believe me, I’ve probably heard stranger things.”

“What year is it?”

She laughed and told the date, he was in the future, “not even in the top ten. May I ask in return why you need to ask that? Are you some kind of time traveler, or did you hit your head on the way here?”

She was joking, but, at the sight of him glancing at the ocarina tied around his waste, the air left her lungs. Her eyes widened and she pieced together where she had seen his face before: in legends.

“You-you should be dead!”

Time nodded, “but I’m not. Let’s discuss why I’m here and not in my own time, if you can help me figure that out.”

She nodded hesitantly, “of course, it’d be my honor, Hero of Time. Oh, of all the times Link has overslept, he would love to meet you!”

She flicked her wrist and her hand lit on fire! Time watched as the fire was tossed from her to a nearby candelabra that had gone out, bringing more light into the room.

“Darkness is no place to discuss issues,” she explained, “now, how long have you been in this time?”

Time noticed that her grin grew tight, her eyes were carefully peeled now. She had dropped the facade of a polite ruler when she realized she didn’t need to keep it. She was letting him know that she was watching, waiting to see if this was a trick or if he would do something against her.

The princess apparently didn’t need guards. She could handle herself just fine.

-

Sky woke up again in a different house, this time he was on a couch that wasn’t broken and there was a fire burning nearby. Someone was wrapping his wounds and putting a wet cloth on his forehead. A woman was talking.

“Ilia,” she said, “I know you are concerned, but staying here to interrogate this poor man will do nothing to bring him back. He probably went to visit Castletown.”

“That doesn’t explain the destroyed bed,” a girl argued, “or how a stranger was in it that no one has ever seen!”

“Ilia.” The woman’s voice was like a disapproving mother. The tone worked as he could hear the girl leave the house, slamming the door shut.

“Ma-ma’am?” Sky was able to make out a word finally.

“Oh,” the woman smiled, “you’re awake, that’s wonderful! My name is Uli, what’s your name?”

“Link,” he answered.

Uli froze.

“Wha?”

“No, no, it’s nothing,” she assured him, “just that my boy is also named Link.”

“Really?” He tried to sit up, he didn’t know any other Link from home, “where am I?”

“Ordon Village, Ilia and Colin found you injured in Link’s house and brought you here. Speaking of, since I can’t just ignore it, why were you in his house?”

“I fell, off my loftwing.”

“Oh, well,” she didn’t seem to know how to respond, “how far did you fall?”

“Thousand feet or so? Don’t know.”

“Just rest until you get better, then,” she probably thought he had a concussion. She laid a blanket over him and Sky was not one to argue to a nap.

-

Warriors got out of the very small hammock and thanked Tetra for not shooting him automatically. She responded by saying it was only because she pitied him. Just like old times on Outset.

Walking onto the deck, Warriors gained a lot of odd stares from the crew, especially since Tetra wasn’t with him. She had just woken up and had no time to put her hair up, so that’s what she was doing now.

“Greetings,” he waved, “you must be Tetra’s crew, a pleasure to meet you.”

They all stared at him silently, holding their swords at the ready. He really didn’t want to fight allies so, when Tetra finally came on deck, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“What are you nerds doing?” She shouted, “get back to work!”

“Miss Tetra!” One of the pirates spoke up, “who is this man? Where is Mister Link?”

“We’re dealing with the time war situation again,” she explained nonchalantly, “just on a smaller scale. Our buddy Link has been replaced with the Captain over here, he’s a the Hero of Warriors from the past/future/who cares. You will listen to all orders given by him, got it?”

“Yes, Miss Tetra!”

“Good,” she crossed her arms and tapped her foot, “if any of you see a portal in the ocean, drive straight through it.”

“I don’t think this is Cia,” Warriors told her, “this isn’t like her.”

“And you would know, lover boy,” she rolled her eyes, “I don’t care what it is. The last time me and the King were dragged over into a never ending war, I don’t want to think about what Link is doing.”

“He could be back in my home,” he offered, “if I’m here and he’s gone, it’s possible.”

“That’s great, but how are going to get back to your time?”

Warriors grinned, he’s always wanted to try this. Tetra looked intrigued at his expression, yet also nervous.

“What’s that look for?”

“You want to cause a time anomaly so bad it shocks the very foundations of time?”

“Hell yeah!”

-

Hyrule kept being prodded by invisible forces. He couldn’t see them, but something around the size of rats moved over his feet and drew in the dirt. They were trying to get him to go somewhere for some reason. Having no other option in this unknown land, he followed.

They dragged him completely around the town, moving him over bridges, through a few more trees, until they were behind the castle. By coincidence, or perhaps on purpose, a girl was there already. She had on a fancy dress and a thin tiara on her red hair. She was also a foot taller than Hyrule.

She smiled and said something in that same foreign language.

“Miss,” he said, “I don’t speak your language.”

She stopped for a second before pulling out a nut from inside her pocket. Placing it in his hands, she made a gesture of eating.

“You want me to eat this?” A nod. Hyrule shrugged, he’s eaten weirder things. He ate the nut in one bite and he was suddenly able to understand what she was saying.

“You must be the stranger the Minish told me about,” she curtsied, “my name is Princess Zelda, how may I be of assistance?”

“Not again,” he laughed weakly at her name.

“Excuse me?”

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, “my name is Link, your Highness. What is a Minish?”

“That’s the name of these creatures?” He gave a blank stare. “Oh, you can’t see them, my apologizes. The Minish are a tiny race that bring fortune to Hylians who need it. Since they brought you to me, I assume you need help.”

“You could say that,” he agreed, “what country am I in?”

“Hyrule,” she answered, “are you from a different country? Are you apart of the troupe that those sisters from Holodrum are from?”

“No,” he shook his head, “I’m from Hyrule, I just don’t...recognize any of this.”

“Hmm,” she tilted her head like she was listening to something, “well, the Minish say that they sense both dark magic and extreme light magic on you. The dark magic is what brought you here, whereas the light magic is a part of you.”

“How did they know that?” He backed up, clutching his hand to hide it from the Princess.

“Their magical creatures,” she smiled like it was a good thing, “they don’t mean any harm. Come with me inside and we’ll figure everything out in a better environment. Unless you prefer we talk out here.”

“I-uh,” he was scared to bring this up to a Princess, who probably preferred to stay indoors, “I’m more comfortable outdoors, actually. That’s why I’m called the Traveler Hero.”

He laughed awkwardly at the end, trying to ignore the confused look the Princess was giving him.

-

Twilight didn’t have a hard time processing what was said to him. Malon was really informative for someone who supposedly never experienced any of this first hand before. Her husband was the Hero of Time, she said, that was only thing he couldn’t believe, but that would explain how she casually asked if he was a time traveler.

So, he was apparently a couple decades to a century in the past from his time, in the era of the Hero of Time. Twilight could sense the dark magic emanating from where he woke up and figured that that caused the switch of him and her husband. After the explanation, Malon didn’t seem so concerned for her husband. He could handle himself she said.

“So,” she was curious about the new hero’s story, “Hero of Twilight, you’re called? What got you that title?”

He shrugged, “went to the Twili realm, saved the country from the twilight, pretty self explanatory.”

“And what’s with those markings? War paint or a tattoo or a curse?”

He lightly touched the markings on his forehead, “little bit of all three. It’s hard to explain.”

“Things are never hard to explain,” she rolled her eyes, “people just have a hard time talking, but I get it.”

There was silence. Malon realized that she poked at something that would be like asking her husband his age.

Trying to change the subject, she pointed to the floor where a necklace was glowing softly. It was like black obsidian mixed with amber in the shape of an arrowhead.

“This isn’t Link’s,” she said and reached to pick it up, “is it yours?”

Twilight’s hands clutched to his chest so that his brain knew yes, that was a very magical and very dangerous artifact on the ground that someone was about to touch.

“No!” He reacted and grabbed his necklace before she could. Immediately, he turned into a shocked wolf on the ground.

Malon resisted the urge to giggle, “I knew it! I recognize the traits of a wolf, boy, you can’t keep anything secret from me.”

Who was this lady?

“Now, transform back and we’ll see about getting you a meeting with the Princess. She might know a thing or two about time travel.”

-

Wild would like to say that he was dignified as he plummeted to his demise, and he was! Until he remembered that he no longer had Mipha’s Grace and then he realized he was screwed. Anytime he tried to jump off, the bird would just pick him up again and continue diving downward. Any moment now he was going to hit ground level.

“Hey, bird?” He asked politely, “you wanna not become a pancake? I’ve done it before, not pleasant! Do you know how hard it is to clean up blood on a roof after you were healed by a fairy? Very hard, and I bet bloody feathers are a nightmare as well.”

The bird just ignored him and continued diving. Worth a shot, at least.

Wild tightened his eyes shut before BOOM! The bird stopped momentum and a rush of air blue through his long hair. They were only a foot off the ground in front of a temple, the bird finally allowing him to get off.

“That was both terrifying and crazy,” he felt motion sick, “thank you, bird?”

He leaned on the side of the temple to stop the world from spinning. The door opened and out walked a girl his age dressed in a white robe. She had blond hair and what looked like wings in his hazy vision.

“Hylia?” He asked. Did he actually die?

The girl blushed and came into focus, the wings were actually a blanket over her shoulders and she looked lime she just woke up.

“I prefer Zelda,” Zelda smiled, “I don’t believe we’ve met, are you from one of the outer islands?”

“‘m from Hateno?” He answered, “I, uh, fell out of the sky for some reason. That bird picked me up.”

She didn’t know of any place called Hateno, but it might just be a local name for one of the smaller islands. She beamed at the red bird.

“Link, always being the hero,” she laughed before realizing that something, or someone, was missing, “Link? Wait, where’s your rider?”

She turned on Wild, “do you know where Link is? Where this loftwing’s rider is?”

“My name is Link,” he said, “is that what that’s called, a loftwing? It was all alone when it caught me.”

If he somehow managed to get amnesia again he was going to scream.

Zelda’s face showed horror, “no rider? Link, where are you?”

She turned to walk away before Wild called out to her.

“Wait! Where are we in Hyrule?”

She froze, “Hyrule? What’s that?”

-

Four really liked this new Zelda. Once she got over her fears, she revealed herself to be quite intelligent and a great listener. Together, they quickly figured out that Four time traveled to the distant future and that Zelda’s Link most likely was taken to a different time as well.

Now, all that was left was how to get back.

“I found some stories about the Hero of Legends,” Zelda, or Flora as they’ve decided call her to lesson the confusion, “they say he time traveled using a harp. The Hero of Time of course traveled with his ocarina, and this one mentions the Hero of Warriors fighting across time.”

Four recognized none of those titles. He looked up from his book on curses and dark worlds to ask a question.

“Nothing about the Hero of the Skies?”

She shook her head, “the last of those stories were kept in the castle, but they were destroyed in the Calamity. Why?”

“He had something to do with time travel, too, I just can’t remember.”

“If we can’t find anything,” Flora put the book back on the shelf, “we should go to Purah, she knows the most about the legends, so she might be able to help us.”

Dr. Purah of the Sheikah, Four hated to admit that the Vio part of him wanted to see what science was like thousands of years into the future. He didn’t want to distract from the main concern of trying to get back home.

“We could split,” Red said in his mind hopefully, “then we can find out everything four times as fast!”

“Or four times as slow,” Blue retorted.

“Wouldn’t be such a bad idea,” Vio mused, “we shouldn’t even be here long enough that people will notice that we’re one person.”

“What about Flora?” Green asked, “she’d ask about why there’s suddenly four of us.”

“Please, please, please!”

“Four?” Flora snapped her fingers in his face, “are you okay?”

“Um, yeah!” He smiled, “must’ve gotten lost in thought. Found something?”

“Sort of,” she rolled out a scroll on a table, “there’s this story of a child who knocked out a princess after appearing in the woods when a hero disappeared. It was an accident from what is written down.”

“Is the child a hero, too?” He pointed at the drawing a blond hair boy in a blue tunic.

“Doesn’t say,” she replied, “but he looks like the Hero of Wind’s portraits.”

-

“Answer!” Dawn pulled put a knife from under her dress. Did she just carry that around all the time? Yes, yes she does. It’s a dangerous world out there with cultists and babies knocking out your ancestor.

“I don’t know!” Wind back up, holding his own sword defensively up, “I just touched her and-and-and that!”

Dawn didn’t know how she did it, but Aurora always seemed to look graceful when asleep. She collapsed out of nowhere in the middle of the woods just to look like she fainted daintily.

“Do you have dark magic on you?” Dawn asked. A side affect of her age long slumber was that she had a reflex to fall asleep at the slightest hint of dark magic.

“I don’t think so?”

“You sound unsure.”

“Look, I showed up in the middle of woods after going to sleep on a boat,” Wind rolled his eyes, “anything can happen. Wait...is this a time war thing? Yes! Suck it, Tetra!”

While Wind celebrated finally being able to time travel, even though Tetra bet that it would never happen to him like it did to her, Dawn stared in confusion. She kneeled down to Aurora as she started to stir.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you,” she whispered.

“What happened?” Aurora’s eyes peeled open.

“That boy clearly has dark magic on him,” she sneered, “he’s probably the reason we can’t find Link.”

“Nonsense!” Aurora was way too trusting in Dawn’s opinion. “Even if he did have dark magic, then he’s probably cursed, not that he’s trying to curse me. Right?”

Wind nodded quickly, “yeah! I just was brought here by, I don’t know, probably dark magic? Considering the fact that I’m in the past from my time, something happened.”

“In your past?” Aurora smiled, “see! He’s like a reverse me. Zelly, stop frowning, this could be interesting.”

“I’ll stop when we get the full story,” she pointed the knife at Wind again, “tell us everything you know, especially this ‘time war’.”

Wind shrugged, “it’s a long story and I don’t even know the full of it. Ready?”

Aurora sat done and grinned, “yes!”

-

Legend blended into the crowd perfectly. This town seemed to be a perfect blend of soldiers and civilians, by that he meant that every civilian looked ready for combat in some way or another. No one batted an eye at a sword carrying newcomer. Except for the general who was looking for him, but, other than that, he was fine.

But where to go? He didn’t even know how he got to this place. He supposedly woke up in a missing captain’s bed, in what seemed to be a different time period. A different Impa, a new Castletown, no one recognized him.

He just needed to get out of the city first. Can’t time travel if he’s in jail, he decided.

As he slipped through the crowd, he caught sight of some strange passerby’s. There was an actual, visible to all ghost talking with some shop keeps and what looked to be a blue floating lady dancing in the sky. There were some fish people that looked like zoras, but they weren’t as hostile as he remembered.

Ignoring everything, he hurried his pace when he heard someone shout the General’s name. He needed somewhere with an even bigger crowd. He ran until he found a pavilion packed the brim with onlookers. That seems like a good enough place, especially since there seemed to be no entrance fee.

Sitting down in the stands and putting on a red hat instead of his noticeable teal. Maybe this performance will be even somewhat good. He cheered himself up enough to let himself actually enjoy a new environment when someone fell right onto him and into his lap.

“What the hell?” He groaned and saw a very familiar face: his own. “What the hell?! Ravio, what are you doing here?”

“Mr. Hero?” Ravio’s bunny hood fallen off to show his mirrored reflection of Legend’s face, “how are you in this Hyrule, too?! Captain Hero said that me and Ms. Singer are the only one’s from our time.”

He started to talk really fast, saying how he was so happy to see him again and that he couldn’t wait to introduce him to Captain Hero. Legend slapped his hand on Ravio’s mouth to shut him up.

“What do you mean our time?”

He let Ravio speak, “oh, a lot of people here traveled through time from different eras during this big war! It was really scary, but I remembered to be brave like you and-“

“Ravio.”

“-right,” he got back on track, “so I figured I couldn’t be the only one from my time here when a lot of people came here together, so I asked. Captain Hero said that Ms. Singer was also from around our time, and now you’re here!”

“Who’s Ms. Singer?” Odd name, not that it was her real name. Ravio liked giving these dumb, stupid, and endearing nicknames to his friend.

“Oh, she’s the one performing right now,” Ravio pointed to the stage, “and it’s starting now! She’ll probably want to meet you, I can take you to her after the show.”

Someone was on the stage, an announcer of some sort, and he spoke, “singing the Ballad of the Wind Fish for the Fishing Festival, Warrior Marin!”

Legend’s heart stopped as out walked the love of his life, looking exactly as how he remembered her and even holding one of those cursed instrument. The love of his life which shouldn’t even exist.

And then she sang. It was realest thing Legend had ever heard.

-

Time and Fable, the Princess of Legends, had a long conversation about all that was possible.

He offered time travel induced by a third party. She agreed, adding on to her experience in both time traveling and being kidnapped by time travelers.

It was then Time recognized her.

“Wait,” his grin grew sly, “Princess Zelda from the Ultimate Tournament? Was that you?”

Her eyes widened with surprise at being recognized, “how did you know?”

“The fire should’ve been a giveaway,” he shrugged, “but I was Young Link, we fought a couple of times.”

“No!” She laughed, “you’re that boy? Look at you now! Once we finish this meeting we must simply have a rematch.”

Time shook his head, “there are more pressing matters. Besides, I don’t fight like that anymore.”

“Yeah, I believe you, Mr. Carrying-a-sword-larger-than-me.”

They finished their banter and went back to work. Fable just got to suggesting the idea that they could borrow an object of the Hero of Legend’s when…

A portal opened.

-

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Tetra screamed over the waves.

“Who’s commanded an army?!” Warriors hid his nervousness by pulling rank.

“Who’s never been on a boat before?”

He bit the inside of his mouth, “this will work. You met your own granddaughter, you can’t die. The gods will have no choice but to step in.”

“Yeah, yeah. This better not destroy my ship.”

“Miss Tetra!” A pirate shouted as he held onto the boat’s railing for dear life, “what’s the plan?”

“Everyone hold on! We’re going straight forward at full speed!” She pointed to the quickly approaching cliffs that they were about to crash into.

A portal opened.

-

A portal opened.

“That’s weird?”

“This is amazing!”

-

A portal opened.

“That might be my ride.”

“You can’t go through there, it could be dangerous! Who are you?”

-

A portal opened.

“Please come visit again.”

“I will! Bye, Aurora. Bye, Dawn.”

“Good riddance.”

-

A portal opened.

“Huh, not the strangest thing to happen this month.”

“What is your life?!”

“You’re one to talk, wolf boy.”

-

A portal opened.

“Thanks for your help!”

“Anytime, though I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”

-

A portal opened.

“I need to go.”

“Will you be okay?”

“I’ve been through worse, thank you for your hospitality. I’ll find your son.”

-

The show ended and Ravio dragged Legend behind him to introduce him to the singer. Legend couldn’t complain from the daze he was in and he also needed to run. The General was on his tail and was asking for his whereabouts at the entrance.

“She’s really nice, Mr. Hero,” Ravio was chatting and waving his arms around, “I know she will love you!”

He hoped she still did. He hoped she was real.

Ravio knocked on a door in the back of the stage. It opened up to reveal a tired looking Marin, but her face brightened as soon as she saw the purple bunny.

“Ravio!” She beamed, “how did I do? It was my first time preforming in this Hyrule, so I hope I did good.”

“You did amazing, Ms. Singer,” he nodded vigorously, “but I wanted to introduce you to someone. Another person from our time showed up and-“

“Marin?” Legend finally brought himself to speak, he was too busy looking at her and taking in every detail of her existence, “do you know me?”

Marin’s face looked horrified before blossoming into excited disbelief. Without hesitating, she rammed Legend into a hug. She was doing the same think he was doing: making sure the other was real and in the moment.

“You’re here!” She grabbed his face, “I have been looking everywhere for you.”

“You’re here,” Legend retorted, “how? I thought the Wind Fish-“

“-there was this war-“

“-I thought you were dead-“

“I love you.”

They both said the last part at the same time. Both party’s faces grew as red as their hair before laughing. Ravio, meanwhile, was understandably confused.

“So you two know each other already?” He asked.

“It’s a long story,” Marin explained, “but how did you get here, Link? Why didn’t you come during the war?”

“I’ve been busy?” He raised an eyebrow, “what war? After the island I went to a couple other countries. After that, I woke up in the barracks here. Speaking of-“

“It seems we have a new warrior,” General Impa’s voice sounded from behind the three, causing Legend to jump suddenly.

“General, ma’am!” Marin waved, “this is Link.”

“There are many,” she replied dryly, “title?”

Marin looked uncertainly at Legend, she knew he had adventures, but not the full extent.

Legend tried to remain cool, “take your pick, Hero of Legend, the Legendary Hero, Hero of Worlds, Hero of the Essences, I could go on, really.”

Impa nodded, “I have heard of you.”

There was an unspoken tone of “you’re lucky I know of you so I don’t gut you right now.”

“That does not explain, however,” she continued, “what happened to the Captain.”

“Mr. Captain is missing?” Ravio squeaked.

“I had nothing to do with that,” Legend protested, “I don’t even know how I got here myself.”

“If that’s the case-“

“GENERAL!” A voice called from somewhere in the distance, “Captain Tetra’s ship has been spotted in the harbor.”

“Tetra?” “Ms. Pirate?”

“Who?” Legend looked at the two. They both seemed to know this captain…wait. “Is this the captain that went missing?”

Impa walked out the room and they all followed, “no, Captain Tetra is captain of a pirate ship, though she doesn’t exactly steal while in this Hyrule. Captain Link is who is missing.”

“Shouldn’t Tetra be back in the Great Ocean?” Marin looked at the massive ship in the distance, “Cia and Lana haven’t opened a portal to there in ages. They promised to leave them alone.”

“Clearly today isn’t a normal day,” she did not bother to hide her glare that was pointing daggers at Legend.

-

“We made it!” Warriors barked with laughter as the boat slammed to a halt in the harbor of his Hyrule. The large portal that saved them from destruction vanished once they were out of it.

“That was awesome,” Tetra grinned, “I will never let Link live down missing that.”

“CAPTAIN LINK!” A sharp voice growled from the ground.

“Looks like someone is in trouble,” Tetra stuck her tongue out at the sick looking hero.

-

Legend watched amused as this apparent hero was chewed out for vanishing. From the context Marin gave him, this Hyrule was plagued with time traveling portals and monsters, but the problem was thought to be solved.

Tetra waved Legend, introduced herself as the dreaded Pirate Captain of the Great Ocean before chatting with Marin. They were friendly and talked about how life at sea was.

About five minutes into the General punishing the Captain a smaller portal opened up. It was head level to the Captain and about the size of an apple. A piece of paper flew out of it, smacked into the Captain’s head, and vanished.

“The Guardians of Time have graced us with an answer?” Impa paused and waited for the Captain to finish reading the letter.

“Dear Link,” he read aloud, “please stop trying to destroy the time stream, especially right now. Someone else is messing with the timelines and it isn’t Cia this time. We can find no trace of this person, only echos of their actions. Can you please help us track down this threat once more. We are sending help with the other people displaced by this person’s actions. Cia and Lana.”

“Others?” Legend mused.

And a portal opened. Seven, in fact, opened and out stepped seven boys and men of various ages.

“Welcome to Hyrule,” the Captain waved to the people, “first time time traveling?”

A man with the Master Sword of all things grimaced, “it isn’t a first.”

Chapter Text

“GET OUT OF THE WAY!”

Was that a whale?!

Twilight’s day was already too weird.

-

If Legend had a quarter for every time a person with fiery red hair called him cute after he appeared in a new land with no control, he’d have a dollar by now. Din, Ralph when he thought he was far enough away, and one other that would remain anonymous, all people who complemented him. The violence coming from said red head was nice change of pace this time around.

“Hey, bunny boy, you know how to use that sword?”

-

Warrior’s Hyrule, of course it had to be his! Or was it his? Theoretically, he could claim ownership to any time period in existence as his home time, as long as Cia or Lana were there, which was always. Regardless, monsters in coming, the group’s split up, and it’s like stepping into a history textbook for some or déjà vu for others.

Twilight went through the portal with Wild, he was supposed to be right behind him, but they immediately got pulled away in the immediate chaos that was this battle. Last he saw Wild went to help some Gorons that were calling for assistance. Twilight himself was now fighting off pirate themed monsters, presumably from Wind’s time.

There had been no other soldiers except him in the area, but that was to be expected. Honestly, he preferred fighting alone, Warrior’s soldiers weren’t known for being top notch. Still, it was getting busier and harder to keep up with the incoming hoards. Did they ever slow down?

Then, he heard a whistle.

It was high pitch, almost mimicking that of a bird, and a sound of bells rang right after. A cheery laugh followed by a bellowing screech was the first thing that told Twilight to move.

The second thing was, of course, the woman telling him to move.

He dodged out of the way just before a whale the size of a building crashed into the remaining monsters. The whale was decorated in drapes of carpet and curtains of a variety of gemstone colors. There were a pair of tiny white wings that somehow allowed it to soar away and disappear into mist.

Now, who in the timeline could summon a magical whale? Didn’t Wind mention something about a whale?

“Sir? Are you okay?” He was snapped out of his thoughts by someone waving over his face.

Twilight focused his vision to see a woman, shorter than him by a bit so he had to look down. She had fluffy red hair that swirled in the sun and bright eyes that were currently full of worry. Her light blue sundress swayed in the wind, matching up with the chiming of her enormous bell that hung loosely in one hand.

“Sir?”

“Y-yeah,” he regained his composer, “thanks for the save. What was that?”

“What was what?” She tilted her head.

“That whale?”

The woman laughed, “what whale? You must’ve dreamed it. Sorry I couldn’t have gotten to you sooner, I don’t know where the influx of monsters came from, really.”

Twilight decided not to push it. “My name’s Link, but I go by Twilight, who are you?”

She turned around to face the new round of monsters that had discovered where they were. With an almost sad voice, she responded.

“I’m Marin, looks like there’s more nightmares to fight.”

-

Legend was going to murder every single one of these monsters, followed by every single Link, and finished off by every single god, deity, or demon in existence. Warriors’ time sucked, nothing but endless waves of fighting. If he wanted to spend his afternoon attacking things, he would just agree to go to training camp with the knights like the Princess keeps asking him to.

A soft chuckle escape from behind him. After a quick flurry from his ice rod to cover the path in front of him, he turned around to see a woman, who must have been at least six feet tall, leaning on the stone wall. She definitely wasn’t there before. In her hand she held a round silver disk the size of a shield, yet it wasn’t being held like one. At her side, a glowing blue and black wolf growled at him.

Okay, Legend remembered how Warriors described the villain of his time. Tall? Check. Weirdly dressed? Checked. Radiating dark magic? It was a bit of a gray area right now, but check. If she tried to flirt with him, Legend was going to stab her immediately.

“You want something?” He asked, making a point to make his sword glow with light magic.

The woman rolled her eyes, “cute, thinking you could hurt me with that.”

“Who are you?” He had to turn around for a quick second to reblast the area with ice. In the distance he saw some fire monsters arriving as backup, so this lady better talk quick.

“Midna, at your service,” she pushed off the wall and snapped her free hand’s fingers, “Rinku, go handle the fire monsters.”

The wolf, Rinku, without hesitation jumped over the ice and into the fray, tearing into monster after monster.

So, Legend thought, 50% chance this was a good guy.

Midna walked over to him and leaned on his head, much to his protests.

“Hey, bunny boy, you know how to use that sword?”

How did she know about that?

“My name is Legend,” he growled, “get off me before I show you how I can use it.”

With that, Midna laughed and moved away from him. Outstretching her hand, she let her disk catch the light, reflecting it in the faces of the monsters.

“Come on, rabbit,” she teased, “you have teeth. Use them.”

-

A couple hours later and everyone was tired. At around six in the afternoon something called the monsters off and all of the soldiers could scramble back to the castle for food and rest.

Wild waved over to Twilight from his spot in the dining hall. He was apparently speaking with Ravio, who was sitting next to him and with his hood on.

Twilight looked at Marin, “who you like to eat with me and my friends?”

She nodded, “as long as I’m not a burden.”

“You won’t be.”

He guided her to where he saw Wild and Ravio. It seemed they were the first of the group to make it off the battlefield.

“Heya, Ms. Singer!” Ravio waved, “hi, Mr. Wolf.”

Twilight narrowed his eyes at the nickname, but Marin didn’t seem to take note of its oddity. He introduced Marin and Wild before taking his place.

“Hello, Ravio,” she sat down, “you know Twilight?”

“Yup! He and Mr. Champion here are friends with Mr. Hero.”

“Oh,” she looked at Wild, “are you two from Ravio’s time then?”

Wild shook his head, “I’m from, I think, a long way down in the timeline.”

Twilight agreed, “I’d never even heard of the Hero of Legend before meeting him. What time are you from?”

“Don’t know,” Marin shrugged, “I was raised on an island that had no contact with anywhere else, so we don’t know much of Hyrule. The portal to my home closed after I entered it so there’s no context clues for anyone to help me figure it out.”

Twilight was about to ask a question when a large shout echoed from the entrance.

“That mutt’s back!”

“Gerald, if you insult my wolf one more time you’d better sleep with one eye open!”

And he immediately paled.

Marin, on the other hand, perked up, “she’s back! She’ll love to meet you to, always wanting to meet the other heroes of Hyrule.”

“Ey, bunny boy! Get in here!”

“Who is she?” Wild asked.

She’s- Twilight wanted to respond so badly, but there was no way that could be her. She was locked behind a second dimension.

“Oh, she’s from the Era of Twilight, I think? At least, that’s what she told me.”

Then again, Ravio was also supposed to be from a different dimension.

“So she’s from your time, Twi! Do you know her?”

“Know her?” all the breath was taken out of his lungs as Midna, Princess, probably Queen by now, of the Twilight Realm walked in. She had a wolf at her side, one that looked almost like a mirrored copy of his wolf form, and the Twilight Mirror in her hand. “Cub…”

“700 kills!” Midna proclaimed proudly to the room, “new record!”

A round of cheers rose up as she declared his success in battle. Some coins traded hands and some drinks were drunk to the loss of whatever score chart they kept track of here.

“I believe that makes me the reigning champion so far,” she laughed, “anyone up to dethrone me? Be prepared, I don’t take coups lightly.”

An uncomfortable silence fell as no one dared challenge her. Most of the people here were just common knights, even on the best of days they could only get twenty kills.

Say something, Twilight’s brain egged him on, before she leaves again.

This is so stupid, he thought back, and he stood up.

“I’ve taken down more than that,” he put on an air of courage, smiling boldly in front of the crowd, “I bet I can beat that tomorrow.”

“Yeah?” Midna laughed and turned to face her challenger, “we’ll see-wolf boy!?”

Not being able to contain it anymore, Twilight ran. Like Rinku in battle, he jumped over tables and tackled Midna in a hug. She was taller, bigger, and stronger than him, she could push him off if she wanted.

She didn’t.

The Twilight Mirror vanished in a burst of light that was soon replaced by shadows as she hugged the hero tightly.

It was then that bunny boy entered the room. He saw what everyone was staring out and was beyond confused at why Twi, one of the more stoic of the group, was crying in the arms of the woman who he just saw destroy a large battalion.

“Okay,” he narrowed his eyes and walked around them, “she’s your problem now, Twilight.”

“Mr. Hero! Over here!”

“Ravio?!”

Legend walked to where Ravio and Wild were sitting, ignoring anyone else in the area. This Hyrule already had too weird of a population. Also, a lot of red heads for some reason?

“What are you doing here?” He asked the actual bunny boy, “you don’t fight.”

“I do now!” Legend could tell he was beaming under his hood. “It’s also a great place to get loot and sell off rare items.”

Ah, there it was.

“You’ve been scavenging? Anything new in stock that you can overcharge me?”

The two talked business, Ravio showing off things he had for sale and Legend bargaining down to a lower price. Truly, the greatest of friends.

Wild stopped eating to look at their ignored fourth party member.

“Marin, you okay?” He asked.

Sure enough, Marin suddenly looked very pale and she was unblinking as she stared at Legend. Up to this point, Legend had ignored her entirely, probably thinking her some other soldier who just happened to be sitting next to them, but, at the call of her name, he also froze up.

Slowly, he turned his head. Wild could hear the choked breathing coming out of his friend, and he recognized the the look in his eyes. He was looking at her as if she was lost to the open waters, only existing in his mind. Now, she had graced him once more with her presence.

“Link?” Marin asked hopefully, tears in her eyes.

“It’s-I mean-“ Legend was stuttering over his words, something that was very unlike him, “yeah, it’s me. Marin?”

She nodded furiously before slamming herself into Legend. He returned in full force and held her like she would disappear into mist if he didn’t.

Wild, now feeling doubly like a third wheel, leaned over to Ravio and whispered.

“She knows Legend?”

Ravio’s expression couldn’t be read from underneath his hood, “she never mentioned him! I mean, she mentioned meeting a guy named Link, but that isn’t something that rare.”

“Wouldn’t she have recognized you?”

Ravio shuttered.

“Have you-have you never taken your hood off in this world?”

“Listen! I don’t want people to actually think I’m the Hero of Legend!”

“We should give them room,” Wild dragged Ravio away, heading over to the now calmly talking Twilight and Midna. Sadly, Wild didn’t think there was a chance for his lost love to come back out of the blue like his friends’ did.

Twilight’s tears had stopped, though they rested on his smiling face. He proudly introduced his cub to Midna, who then immediately started sharing embarrassing stories of when they were together.

Meanwhile, Marin cupped Legend’s face gently.

“You look tired,” she noted.

“Haven’t slept soundly since. What are you doing here?”

She laughed, “portals, war, endless fighting, what else?”

“You couldn’t even pick up my sword! How did you learn to even fight?”

“Music can be deadly, y’know.”

“Trust me,” his bag was half musical instruments at this point, “I know.”

“Ey, bunny boy! Seagull!”

Legend snarled and yelled at Midna, “stop calling me that!”

“Get over here, before I say why I call you that.”

“Just call Ravio that,” he murmured before standing up, holding out his hand to Marin, “would you join me?”

She took it, “a gentleman as always.”

Maybe Warriors’ time wasn’t so bad. Fighting a war was worth it for them to meet again.

Chapter Text

Link never had a simple life. He was born in a time with war on the brink and death on the horizon. Thousands of years of peace lead to an uneasy feeling that something bad was going to happen. That feeling was assured when a prophet declared the return of Ganon to be soon.

Like his father, and his father before him, Link signed up for the army. Only 15 years old, he knew that this was his fate.

He was lucky, thanks to his family history, to be trained on the grounds of the castle instead of some other garrison. Everyone morning he would wake up at 5 in the morning, work out until 7, eat breakfast, and then train nonstop until sunset.

Other soldiers twice his age found it tiring, he found it exhilarating. He was going to fight for his country! What could be better than that?

On top of that, his commander was legendary, quite literally. He had yet to see him in action, but the Captain had stories that would make weaker men bow before him.

“He killed two lynels with only a single sword and the remains of the first to die!” Was the most popular story.

“I hear the goddess blessed him at birth.” The more religious of the soldiers theorized.

“He’s almost our age, yet he’s the most powerful man in the country, next to the King.” That was what he thought everyday he stood near the Captain.

Only 16, but the Captain was in charge of the royal guard, basic training for hopeful soldiers, and the knight of the Princess Zelda herself. How he kept so many jobs at once, no one was sure, but it added to his mythos.

Link liked to imagine he could before like him one day. They already looked alike, blond hair, blue eyes, and a similar face shape, and he had received compliments from others that he had the potential of one day fighting the Captain. The honor he felt at that.

He wished that just one day he could wear the uniform the Captain had, any of them. Some days he would wear the royal guard regalia, dark blue with a red undershirt, which made him look so regal. Or the simple knight’s armor with the Hylian crest displayed proudly. The light blue tunic crafted by the Princess was also immaculate. No matter what, though, the Captain always wore the same royal blue gloves and scarf, a gift for only the most loyal fighter in the country. A gift for the hero of the land.

Captain Link, future Hero of Hyrule, and wielder of the Master Sword. Link, a simple boy with no destiny could never dare to match him, but he could dream.

Then, on the eve of his 16th birthday, something broke. He woke up and he was no longer in his bed in the soldier’s barracks. Instead, Link was in the middle of a field, still wearing bits of his armor from a late training session.

He found some kind people who assumed he was a lost knight and pointed him in the direction of Castletown. When he arrived, he quickly realized that this wasn’t his town.

Everything after that happened so quickly. His how he arrived was answered when a war that stretched across time started. Portals were opening up everywhere, and he wasn’t the only one who was swept up in the chaos, transported to a different time. He just had the luck of helping out the general of the country and she saw something in him. To her, he was a hero and she gave him a green tunic that fitted his supposed stature.

He tried everything to prove that in the oncoming war that lasted two years. He met new people, allies, friends, and fought countless enemies. At 17 he was second in command of even a larger force than in his own time. He was even given his own title: the Hero of Warriors.

Then, he pulled the Master Sword.

He wondered if his original Captain would be proud of him.

At 18, the war was concluded and Warriors had to make the decision of where he would go. Lana offered to send him back to his home time, though she warned that he wouldn’t like what he would return to. It was too late to send him back to where he left and the calamity they feared would come had already started. Warriors looked at the land he saved and came to the conclusion that his Captain could help his home time more than him, this was his home now. His family had all died out by the time he was 14, so there was no one waiting for him there.

He could tell Proxi was a little excited at the prospect of him staying.

-

“Everyone, we’ve got a new guy!” The Hero of the Four Sword declared to the group, and that’s how he met the heroes after investigating and unknown portal. “Welcome the Hero of Warriors.”

He was greeted by six other people, all with different titles, though the same name. He even recognized two of them from the war, so that was a nice coincidence. They told him the story and he agreed to help them on their quest. Not the first time he’s been shoved across times to close portals.

“Greetings,” Warriors laughed, “I guess you can call me Warriors.”

“Hey, Twi,” Four asked another hero, “where’s Wild.”

“Oh, him? He’s out scouting, he said he’ll be back in a couple minutes.”

“You’ll love Wild!” Wind, the only kid of the group and a veteran of the war, told him, “he’s so strong and a great cook.”

“You make him sound so simple,” Legend huffed in amusement.

“Can’t wait to meet him,” Warriors responded, ignoring the comment from the Hero of Legend.

This Wild didn’t show up at the camp for hours. Apparently today was a day for the heroes to recuperate and relax before traveling for a while. Wild on these days supposedly went out hunting or making sure no monsters were anywhere nearby. From the sounds of it, he was one of the strongest of the group.

“What’s his story?” Warriors asked Wind after he shared his tale.

Wind frowned, “he won’t tell us, I think it was something bad. Time and Twilight know, though, they always share knowing looks whenever Wild leaves camp or is still for a while.”

He just hummed in response.

It was nearing nightfall when Wild returned, and Warriors was the first to spot him. He couldn’t believe his eyes.

The hair was longer, like way longer, and his face was scarred beyond belief, but this was him! This was his Captain! He barely looked a month older than when he last saw him. Wild walked into camp with a smile as he shouted that he found some beehives and would be making sweets, but Warriors could only gape at him.

He wore the same champion’s tunic that he usually wore with the Princess. The chainmail underneath shone when the setting sun hit it, same with the few pieces of armor that he allowed over said tunic. His blue gloves nearly blended into the scarf as he fidgeted with it.

That was the odd bit. Before, the Captain always looked commanding, the scarf giving him a larger presence than he really had. Now, Wild looked small, like he was hiding in the scarf that piled to cover half of his face. He played with the ends of the scarf frequently, and refused to look most of them in the eye.

Once his senses returned to him, Warriors stood up and saluted out of respect and instinct.

“It’s an honor to see you again, Captain,” he beamed with pride.

Wild just looked at him with confusion in his eyes.

“You’re a captain?” Hyrule asked him.

“You know Wild?” Twilight raised an eyebrow.

The Captain said nothing.

“It’s been a while,” he admitted, feeling embarrassed by the height difference that was evident with them so close. He had to look down to look him in the eye. “Do you remember me?”

That question struck a nerve and Wild flinched. Twilight’s eyes immediately went to understanding and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Do you want me to tell him?” He asked Wild in a small voice. He received a nod in return.

Twilight sighed and stared at Warriors, “at ease, soldier.”

Warriors lowered his hand, mind starting to run through the different things this could be.

“Wild lost his memory during his quest,” Twilight told him, “he doesn’t remember anything from before his Princess’ 17 birthday.”

Oh, he wasn’t expecting that.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Captain,” he knitted his eyebrows together, “still, it is good to see you. If I can be of any service, let me know.”

Wild nodded before softly saying he was going to start cooking.

-

A couple weeks later of traveling and Warriors already felt at ease with this life. He was good friends with everyone in the group, at least he thought he was, and they were steadily unraveling the mystery of the dark portals.

One night he and Wild were on watch, though Wild’s friend Wolfie was up with them, too. It was nearing midnight when he got bored and tried to strike up a conversation.

“So, Captain,” he began innocently, “what’s our Hyrule like now? If I must admit, I miss home, but I couldn’t just leave my new one so soon like that.”

He heard a muffled reply.

“What was that?”

Wild shifted to uncover his face from his scarf, “why do you call me Captain?”

Warriors faltered, “well, you’re still my Captain, I was never discharged from your battalion and you taught me everything I know.”

“But I’m not,” he shook his head, “I’m not your Captain. I don’t remember you, or anything about being one. I didn’t even know I was one until someone recognized this scarf and told me.”

He clenched the ends of the scarf tightly.

“You more of a Captain than I’ll ever be,” he said, “you command everyone here so well and I can barely speak above a whisper.”

Wolfie whined and moved his head to lay in Wild’s lap. Wild smiled slightly and stroked the wolf’s fur.

Warriors was scared to respond with the same thing, “I don’t know about that. I’m brash and can work with others, but I was pretty stupid when I was younger. I needed someone to tell me what to do or I’d have been way over my head. You, on the other hand, are amazing at teaching. Just last week with firing multiple arrows, Legend got it in no time with your help!”

Wolfie huffed in affirmation.

“Thanks, Warriors,” Wild looked up at him, “I hope one day I can remember you.”

“No problem, Captain,” he stood up, “in the mean time, do you want to spar like old times?”

Wild stood up, “I was hoping one of you guys would ask, haven’t had a good battle since I first woke up!”

“Tradition states the loser does the laundry.”

“I will pull rank on you if you force me to touch Hyrule’s dirty clothes,” Wild laughed.

“Whatever you say, Captain.”

Chapter Text

Wild immediately felt uncomfortable. The last thing he knew was that he fell asleep with the others and now he’s lying in the back alley of a sandy location. It was hot, but there was luckily a cool breeze blowing in.

The reason he felt uncomfortable was that he knew where he was. Or, he at least had a guess. After spending so long in his home time Gerudo Town, he had gained a sixth sense on when he was not wanted, just like the Gerudoes who kicked him out when he had the wrong clothes on. That being said, despite clothed in more than enough layers, Wild felt naked.

Quickly scanning around to make sure no one had seen him, he pulled out the Sheikah Slate and switched to his vai outfit. This wasn’t his time, but he could probably pretend to be a lost Hylian in the desert. A well traveled Hylian, sure, but they would hesitate before kicking him out.

He stood up and started to walk around, searching for any kind of help. Weirdly, it seemed everyone was in their homes and no one was actually out and about. He wondered what time period this was, to have so a quiet Gerudo Town.

Eventually he came across a house that had laughter ringing from inside. The door and windows were opened, probably to help cool the building, and Wild could see a group of people playing cards inside. There were two Hylians, both blond, and two Gerudo. He could hear four female voices coming from somewhere else in the building.

They seemed like calm enough people, he thought, and he could see no weapons. He could survive at least ten minutes with them if he were to intrude, he bet. Plus, they all looked his age and were playing cards, maybe he could even join in if he couldn’t find his way home immediately.

So, he knocked on the sandstone wall.

“Uh, hello?” He said softly before speaking up, using the higher pitched voice he used as a vai, “I’m sorry, but I’m lost. Can you help me?”

Immediately all four heads turned to face him. The blond girl tilted her head in confusion at him while the other three in the room looked at him with horror.

The blond boy, wait, he recognized him from somewhere, shouted with a growl, “mom! Another Hylian made it in!”

“Can’t give us even a couple of hours to rest,” the Gerudo who was lying in bed complained. They tried to stand up and the other Gerudo put their hand on her to stop her from moving.

You should run, Wild’s brain told him, but he was too slow. Two figures came running out of the other rooms in the house, one two feet tall and one seven. The short one, a child in green by the looks of it, was clutching a blue glowing stone that a voice was calling out of. The tall one was an imposing figure that was about to lunge at him.

“Woah, I don’t want any trouble,” he put his hands up defensively, “I got separated from my party and I just want to know-“

“We know what you want,” the blond kid was standing now, crossing his arms behind the tall Gerudo, “you Hylian spy.”

“What?!”

“Link,” the Gerudo looked to the boy, “don’t antagonize them.”

The kid looked down, “yes, mom.”

“Link?” Wild’s eyes widened, he remembered where he saw this kid before. It was at Time and Malon’s place, they had an old photo of around when he first proposed, and Time looked exactly like this kid. This kid was Time?! “Time, what the hell?”

The kid refused to look him in the eye, but he looked ready to murder.

“This is all a big misunderstanding,” Wild looked at the Gerudo, “I’m not a spy, I’m not even from here. But I think I know your son…”

He added the last bit hesitantly, scared of the reaction he would provoke. The Gerudo grabbed him by the arm and pulled him inside the house, shutting the door behind him. The Hylian girl closed the curtains as well, moving from her place on the bed.

Out of the short one’s hand a voice rang, “Link, are you there? Is everything alright?!”

The short one smiled kindly, “yes, everything is fine for now.”

The Gerudo leaned down to reach the height of her companion and spoke, “did your father perhaps send another Hylian spy, a girl dressed in Gerudo garb?”

“What? No? He would rather die than have Hylians dress like you.” A pause. “Sorry, his words, not mine.”

“It’s alright, thank you,” the Gerudo stood up and looked at Wild, “first, before some questions-“

She said questions even though it sounded more like an interrogation to Wild.

“Introductions,” she placed a hand over her chest, “my name is Nabooru.”

Wild’s mind sparked at the name, he had heard Riju mention a Nabooru and the beast of desert was named after her. He definitely didn’t want to fight her if they were one and the same.

“This is my son, Link,” Nabooru pointed to the pouting boy, “over there is Sika and Vridi.”

Sika gave him a cautionary glare while Vridi politely waved.

“My name is Saria,” the short one nodded proudly, “and this is my daughter Linkle.”

The girl, Linkle, copied her mother’s movements in her greeting him.

“That’s me!” She beamed.

Wild glanced at the whole room. It was an odd group of families but he wasn’t about to judge. He was curious as to why Saria reminded him so much of the koroks. Maybe it had something to do with Lake Saria in his time.

They all looked at him expectantly, waiting for his name.

“Well-I-uh.” What name should he use? “I go by Wild right now, but my actual name is Link. Honest.”

“I’ll be damned,” Sika barked out a laugh, “Link, you’ve got another clone.”

It really didn’t help that he, Link, and Linkle all sort of looked alike. The scars that were visible under his veil did give him some standout-ish quality, at least.

“Man, Hylians really like that name, huh?” Linkle put a fist to her cheek and rested the same arm on her other arm. “You guys are weird.”

“Agreed,” Link mumbled.

Why was he getting called out for being Hylian so much from these two?

“How do you know my son?” Nabooru interrupted everyone else.

“This is going to sound crazy,” Wild started slowly, “but I have met you in the future.”

The look of disgust and confusion on Link’s face was a little hilarious. He never would’ve guessed he’d see Time so expressive.

“Have you gone on your quest yet?” Wild asked before he could stop himself, “or met Malon? I don’t know much of it, you never told me, but-“

“Look,” Link stopped him with a growl, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve never been on a quest. I-mom?”

He looked at his mother, but she was staring at horror at Wild. The girl’s voice rang out from the stone in Saria’s hand again.

“Did I hear that correctly? Link on a quest in the future?” The voice choked on the words. “Link, are you-you’re the.”

“Relax,” an elderly voice spoke from the stone, “it seems the hero wasn’t as dead as the King thought. Nabooru, you know what this means.”

“Mom?” Link asked, “what is she talking about?”

“We’ll message you back later, Impa,” Nabooru said, probably more harsher than she expected to.

Wild felt like he just dropped some big information that was not his to share. Nabooru said goodbye to the old woman on the stone, Impa, and Saria waved goodbye as she walked out of the house. Linkle followed her, confused as to what was going on.

“Link, and Link? Wild?” Nabooru gestured them to move into a different room, away from the two Gerudo.

Wild followed quickly while Link dragged his feet. Once the three of them were alone, Nabooru sighed.

“No one knows about that,” she referenced his declaration, “how do you?”

“Mom?” Link tugged at her arm for a response but got none.

Wild gulped, “I’m a part of a group, we’re all named Link. Your son looks exactly like a photo I’ve seen of our leader: the Hero of Time.”

He drew blank looks from the two at the title.

“I thought I was in his time when I saw you,” he laughed awkwardly, “it’s confusing, there’s a lot of time travel involved, but I’m telling the truth. I woke up here when I was supposed to be centuries in the future and I am lost. I just happened to run into a hero on accident.”

Nabooru leered at him, trying to tell if he was lying or not. Wild hoped she didn’t take his nervousness for lying.

“Do you have any proof of your claims?”

“You can’t seriously believe him! That’s the most stupid story I’ve ever heard.”

Wild nodded and pulled out his slate. He scrolled through photos and showed pictures of him and his friends. He let them see the picture of the Master Sword he had and even some markings the other heroes bore that showed their heritage. Link was especially nervous at the photos of Twilight or Wolfie. Finally, Wild landed on the photo that reminded him of all of this, a photo of a photograph of a 17 year old boy holding a redheaded farmer. The resemblance was uncanny.

“That’s the farmer girl of Lon Lon Ranch,” Nabooru took the slate to get a close look, “Link has never met her. Have you?”

Link crossed his arms in defiance, “just because I sneak out doesn’t mean I sneak out to go to a farm. I’ve never met her.”

“But it looks exactly like you,” she sounded concerned.

It seemed they were at impasse. There was no denying that this was a picture of Link, but in this time there was no way for that photo to actually exist.

“We should talk to Ganondorf,” Nabooru decided.

“Ganon!” Wild squeaked in fear, taking the slate back and hugging it protectively, “he’s alive?!”

Link snarled, “got a problem with that?”

If Ganondorf caught him here he was dead. While he never met the human form of the demon king, the others told him stories. At best, he was a delusional and selfish man, at worst he was a murderer who didn’t care who was in his way. He must have been keeping Link here to make sure he didn’t rise up and kill him, that’s why he didn’t know anything about being a hero. He needed to get out of here.

Wild’s eyes started to look for an escape route. This room had only one exit and no windows, but Link blocked his path.

“Can-uh-I go?” He asked hopefully, “you don’t need me to talk to Ganon-Ganondorf, do you? I really should go look for signs of my party, they might be lost like me, and uh-“

They weren’t moving.

“What do you have to hide,” Link said accusingly, “that makes you so afraid of my dad?”

What. The. Hell.

“He’s your dad?!” Time definitely would’ve mentioned this before. No way was this kid actually his Time, but why did he look like him?

“Yes.”

Simple, clear answer. Link said it like it was something to be proud of, like he was honored by having Ganondorf as his father.

And with that, Wild decided it was time for to leave. He didn’t want to risk hurting these two, they seemed like nice enough people, so he refrained from using an ice rod to give him more time. In one quick motion, he slammed past Link and ran as fast as he could.

“Hey!”

“Get back here!”

He ran past Sika and Vridi.

“There she goes.”

“Link?!”

He ran out of the building, out into the now darkened night, refusing to look back. He ran into the desert and changed into his voe outfit, hoping that the less bright colors would help him blend in more to the surroundings. Finally, he pulled out a shield and surfed away. The cries of some guards and the family he just ditched faded into the background.

After a bit of running, Wild found an abandoned camping ground, complete with a shawl on some sticks to block out the morning sun. Tired, he laid down and fell asleep.

The next morning, he woke up back in the woods, no one even mentioning his disappearance. Either he time traveled in the night or that was the weirdest dream he had ever had.

He decided to keep quiet about his adventure, not wanting to sound crazy. He did give Time a wide berth that day, though.

And, if anyone noticed his new sunburn, no one mentioned it.

Chapter Text

“What do you do with a drunken sailor? What do you do with a drunken sailor? What do you do with a drunken sailor ear-lie in the morning!”

Legend groaned to himself, hiding his face with his hat. If he sat up then he would look pretty stupid with it sitting upon him like a dunce cap, but he simply wouldn’t sit up. It was not like he was going to join in the festivities.

Every once in a while, after the day was long and when the night was calm, the heroes could just relax. Sometimes that meant sleeping, other times doing whatever hobbies they could do while traveling, or, like today, it was story time. With so many different eras and cultures, there was a lot to learn and today’s conversation turned to the music of the eras.

Legend immediately butted out of the conversation, much to the chagrin of the others.

“But you have so many instruments!” Wind whined, “I wanna know what songs are from your time.”

“I only know classical music,” he argued as he walked away to sulk, “so ask Time.”

There were a few laughs and jabs tossed to the Old Man’s way. Time admitted with a sly smile that he knew many songs that would become famous, as their composers were friends of his. Then, everyone moved on to the show and tell part of the conversation.

From overhearing, honestly it was hard not to hear, Legend was able to learn the music of the others. Sky, not surprisingly, mostly knew ballads and songs to honor the goddesses on his harp. He refused to sing, claiming that he would bring shame to Hylia if he did. Time’s music was mainly on the ocarina and had a jaunty, festival type of tunes, though he mentioned he could play a wide variety of instruments.

“An electric guitar?” Wild seemed intrigued, “does it explode as you play it?”

It was with a laugh that Time said no and that no, Wild, you can’t play it. He had left it at home, along with two other instruments he owned. He also said that he couldn’t play certain songs on his ocarina at the moment, less they wanted a storm that night.

Four knew the ocarina, but he was decidedly less talented than Time. He explained that his music was pretty similar to Time’s, still. Hyrule had a recorder and everyone prayed a thank you to the gods when he said he didn’t want to play it. Warriors said he was in the same boat as Four, with his time being uniquely connected to Time’s time and its culture. Twilight played Legend’s fiddle that he reluctantly let him borrow and whistled as he did. Wild popped up and said he could play an accordion.

“What’s that?” Wind asked with excitement.

Wild grinned as he pulled out what looked like a piano that had been strangled yet could move like a snake. The noise it played was an odd one, but Legend could see the appeal.

After Wild finished his song, it was Wind’s turn. Wind, infamously at this point, didn’t know any instruments. He was a brilliant conductor in both senses of the word, yet he couldn’t play a single scale on a string or a reed instrument.

“So, sailor,” Warriors ruffled his hair, “what’s your music?”

“Well,” Wind took a deep breath and bellowed.

That was when they learned that maybe their music wasn’t so different after all. In hindsight, they should’ve known that the sailor’s choice of music would be sea shanties, but how were they to know that Drunken Sailor was apparently a classic all up and down the timeline?

At the recognition of the song, almost everyone jumped in. Some sang slightly different versions, but the choruses were all the same, if not a little out of tune. Even Wild knew the song as he played it on his accordion and Twilight on the fiddle.

This brought Legend to where he was: slumped against a tree and trying to block out the cursed song. It didn’t help that he knew the song as well and the lyrics were dancing around in his mind.

“Way-hey and up she rises, way-hey and up she rises, way-hey and up she rises ear-“

“My gods how long is this song?!” Legend blurted out when his anger finally got the best of him. “Were more verses added recently?”

The music ended with a few chuckles, a sharp flat note on Wild’s part, and a frown on Wind’s face.

“Why don’t you sing with us, Legend,” he asked hopefully, “if Hyrule knows this song then surely you do.”

“Oh, I know it,” he fixed his hat back to it’s normal positioning, “but I at least have taste.”

“Hey, sea shanties are awesome!”

“If you’ve got a crew,” he smirked, “but I sail alone.”

Wind’s face broke into a wide smile. That was the wrong thing to say.

“You sail!?” He bounced up to him, “you do it alone? Were you self taught or did someone help you? What kind of ship?”

A million more questions were asked. Legend looked for some other hero to pull Wind away from him, but, judging by their amused looks, he was on his own. Well, he dug his own hole.

“How did you guys think I traveled to so many places?” He chuckled, “after my first adventure I traveled with a crew who taught me the ropes before I started sailing alone.”

“How come you’ve never mentioned this before?” Wind pouted, “we could be sailing buddies.”

“Because…” Lightning struck in the back of his mind. “I don’t sail anymore. At all.”

“Oh,” a mischievous grin emerged on the sailor’s face, “does this mean you know more sea shanties?”

Legend sighed, “the things you focus on, you guppy.”

“Please sing on, or play one,” Wind tugged on his sleeve, “please! I only know shanties from my time or ones that don’t exist-“

Hold up, what?

“I want to one up Tetra and teach her one for once. I knew you were lying about only knowing classical!”

“Oi, sea rat,” Warriors shouted from across camp, “it’s your turn, unless you want to hear a recorder from Hyrule.”

Legend shuddered. He liked Hyrule, but gods no to hearing a recorder. He understood why some of his enemies could be defeated by sound alone.

He stood up, “fine, you ever hear Off to Sea?”

Oh, he was going to regret this. Wind shook his head and settled back into Legend’s old spot expectantly.

“I think I’ve heard of it?” Hyrule raised a hand, “or maybe Princess Zelda told me about it from her time.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “wouldn’t doubt it if this song manages to last to at least her generation.”

It had been a while time since he heard this specific song, but he knew it almost by heart. He pulled out a ukulele he bought after his visit to Labyrnna, as he didn’t get to keep the one he found there.

“It’s been a while since I’ve played,” he said to no one in particular, “but I’m sure I’ll blow all of your playing out of the water.”

He plucked the starting chord and took in a deep breath. No turning back now.

“When first I landed in Hyrule’s port, I went adventuring,” he sang slowly, “with a sword at last, I fought so fast, I was brave as brave could be. But when the villains were dead and gone, it was then I wanted more.”

He closed his eyes, making sure Wind was the last thing he saw. Wind’s mouth was wide open, yet he said nothing, hanging onto every word.

“But a man must be blind to make up his mind to go to sea once more. Once more, one more, go to sea once more…”

He repeated the last line to complete the chorus.

“And as I walked down Labrynna street, I met with an Oracle. I asked if she’d need some saving and she made me historical. She said, ‘last time I was here, it was hundreds of years in the past. But I’ll give you a chance and I’ll take your advance and I’ll send you to sea once more.’”

He heard a shuffling noise and opened his eyes briefly to see Hyrule looking nervous. Legend raised a quick finger in a shushing motion and he continued with the song.

“Once more, once more, go to see once more. But I’ll give you a chance and I’ll take your advance and I’ll send you to sea once more.”

Legend added a bit with his ukulele at the end of the chorus to turn the song into a darker tone.

“I headed alone upon a raft, we were bound for Holodrum’s seas. When lightning struck through sky and sea, and I felt the world begin to freeze. And worst to bear, I survived with my life in trading a love of mine.

“It was then that I wished that I was dead, and could go to sea no more.”

Everyone froze. Hyrule frowned, recognizing this song as one written from the perspective of the traveling Hero of Legend. History noted that somewhere between his second and third adventure, something changed in him, marked with a lightning scar that added to his collection and diary entries of a girl who was now gone.

“No more, no more, go to sea no more. It was then that I wished that I was dead and could go to sea no more.”

Legend sneered.

“Sometimes we’re catching whales, me lads, sometimes we’re catching none. With a twenty-foot rope stuck in your paw from 4 o’clock in the morn, and as the shades of night roll on and you rest on your weary sword, it was then that I wished that I was dead and could go to sea no more.”

A repeat of the chorus. Legend refused to look any of them in the eye.

“So come all of you hard weather-sailing lads, who listen to my song.”

This was the reason he chose this song over any others.

“When you get back from these long trips, I’d have you not go wrong. Take my advice: fight no more fights, don’t you dream on through the morn, but rest instead and spend all night in bed and go to sea no more.”

He sang the final chorus and did a mock bow as he put his instrument up. He came up and saw them all silent still.

“What? No applause?” He joked, “I thought you wanted me to play for you.”

Wind spoke up, “where did you learn that song? What’s it about.”

Sweet summer child, he chuckled.

“None of you have songs written about you yet?” He raised an eyebrow, “some pretentious bard wrote it before my second round of adventures a couple years back. I don’t know where he got some of these lyrics…but it’s a nice enough song.”

He kicked Wind out of his spot before sitting back down as he was five minutes ago. He crossed his arms.

“Did get one thing right,” he admitted, “I don’t sail anymore, and honestly I recommend no one do it.”

An old scar that streaked from his shoulder to the bottom of his foot acted up. He resisted the urge to itch it.

“It isn’t worth it,” he looked to Wind, “once you find your new Hyrule, I’d recommend staying there and never leaving.”

“I don’t think I could ever give up the sea,” Wind shook his head, “it’s worth the dangers.”

“Whatever you say, guppy.”

Chapter Text

There was something in the air.

According to the Sheikah Slate, it was approximately 63.5 degrees Fahrenheit at 8:32 in the morning. It was too be a cloudy day with no rain forecasted, yet should warm up as noon approaches.

Simply put: it was the first day of the harvest season.

The dew on the grass splashed their shoes as the Links woke up in their encampment. Wind took a small join from messing with a mushroom that had grown overnight and Four had to tell himself that that was no Minish’s home. There were no Minish, of course, this was Wild’s home.

Speaking of, Wild woke up and felt it in his bones of what day it was. Like how the other heroes knew when certain holidays were upon them, Wild could sense the changing of the seasons. A singular cold wind blew past and his smile grew wide.

“Time, Time, Time!” He bounced up to the hero in question, who was currently looking more tired than usual. “Can we go to Kakariko?”

He looked down at him with a raised eyebrow, “why? I thought we were heading to Hateno to talk to your scientist friend.”

Wild had two options now: lie or beg like the brat he was born to be, yet never gotten the chance. He could prompt that maybe Purah or even Robbie would be at Kakariko this time of year, but that would go south as soon as they arrived and no one shorty than Four would be there. Being a brat on the other hand…

“Please,” he imitated Wolfie’s puppy eyes the best he could, “please, pleaaaaaaassssseee. It’s just a short detour and we can head to Hateno from Kakariko anyway.”

Time’s eye narrowed even further, “you still haven’t given me a reason.”

He sighed, “because it’ll be fun? It’s finally harvest and it’ll be my first one after the Calamity and that I’ll remember. I didn’t get to celebrate last year’s because I was still on my quest.”

Time blinked once. Wild could never tell what he was thinking, but he hoped that it was good. Apparently, whatever he said worked.

“We can take the day to celebrate your harvest,” he smiled kindly, “I’m sure this is a monumental celebration for your kingdom especially.”

It was indeed. A new harvest meant the farmers and the towns survived another year and that, more importantly, life still grew.

If they were anywhere else, Wild would’ve been happy to celebrate just find in the nearest town. If they were near Rito, he would make something with their wheat and abundance of fish. If they were somehow in Gerudo he’d make something extra spicy and grab a few hydromelons. The Gorons celebrated harvest with getting a few more rocks than normal, but Wild liked being included in the biannual wrestling matches they had that would land around this time of year.

Hateno would be arguably a more entertaining venue for his friends. That’s where his house was, and their goal, and bigger farms than Kakariko. The whole town would be buzzing and covered in decorations for the season. But there was a specific reason it had to be Kakariko.

By nature, the town was secluded in its weirdly shaped mountains. There wasn’t a lot of space or people to do something big, and they needed to not draw too much attention, less the Yiga get ideas. That’s why Wild liked it, though. It was small, yet homely. What you saw with Kakariko was what it was, you could count on it staying constant. It was hard to describe, Hateno was home, but Kakariko was the world for Wild.

Plus, Kakariko had pumpkins. Beautiful, sturdy, bright, vivid, tasty, and wonderful pumpkins. When he was told that there was a fruit that could not only be cooked, but stabbed and it was called an art or hobby that kids do, Wild found his new favorite plant. They make the best pies and stews and carving them was especially fun.

The others will love this, he thought. He could show them the best preserved part of civilization from before the calamity and shake the pity for at least a day that he knew they felt.

The whole way to Kakariko, Wild was practically skipping. About an hour into the walk, he whistled suddenly and his horse that had been housed at Kakariko since he was last there came running. It was the big Gerudo horse that could kill him with a single kick. It was his favorite.

“What the hell?” Legend shrieked against himself, “did a lynel come out half done?!”

“Thyme!” Wild cheered.

“What?”

“Not you,” he rushed past the armored man and swung on the horses back as it was still running. The horse took the sudden weight like it was nothing. He pet Thyme’s neck. “Miss me?”

“How big-where did you find this horse?” Four asked. He didn’t even reach the horse’s under belly and could stand completely under Thyme without touching it.

“Is this the one you fought two lynels to get, cub?” Twilight shook with laughter.

“Yup!” Wild beamed, “Time, human Time, are you good?”

Time was staring at the horse calculatingly, like it might spear him at any moment. To be fair, yeah.

“I’ve just seen this breed before,” he broke the staring contest, “they’re hard to wrangle. I hope you know how to treat…Thyme was it?”

He nodded, “all my horses are named after food. I’ve got Salt, Chocolate, Mint, and Blackberi, too. Anyway, I’ve called Thyme here so I can go away and quickly tell Impa that we’re coming. Don’t want any of you to get confused for Yiga.”

“Be safe.”

Wild rode away, taking great pleasure in being the tallest in the group on top of this horse. He didn’t mention that he wanted to fight the one Yiga who was always stationed outside of Kakariko alone. It’s been awhile since he could.

After buying 99 bananas, promptly lighting a small fire next to the hidden salesman, and burning all of them until they were ash, Wild enjoyed a quick fight. Honestly, the teasing was the real fun of the matter. If the others were here, they’d either call him crazy or berate him for taunting the enemy.

“See ya next time, Kevin!” He laughed as the Yiga grumbled and teleported away. He left the rupees that they dropped for a future Blupee to come by and steal.

Hoping back on his horse, Wild cantered to the fairy fountain to say hi to the Great Fairy. He passed the shrine and walked down the long path. Another reason he loved Thyme was that everyone could see him when he visited, as everyone in the village saw him over the rooftops.

“Link, Link!” Koko ran up to him, “you’re back!”

“Just for today,” he told the child, “hey, you want to help me make something for my friends?”

“Sure, as long as it doesn’t stop me from making the best pumpkin soup ever.”

He laughed, “I don’t think that’ll be an issue. Just let me say hi to Impa and we’ll get started.”

-

The eight other heroes arrived two hours later, and it was already past noon. They almost got turned around at the fork in the path where Wild encountered the Yiga, but Twilight managed to get them on the right track. They followed in the wake of the gigantic horse and were greeted to the sight of the town of Kakariko.

“This is really Kakariko?” Legend looked at the mountains and hills, “it’s a little…cramped.”

“It’s closed off,” Time nodded, “but I’m sure it’s lovely. I’m impressed that the Sheikah are this many.”

“I thought it was just Impa,” Warriors agreed as he watched a little girl be chased by her father. “This world is a contradiction. Barely a Hylian an acre, but more Sheikah than any of our times combined.”

“Excuse me, miss?” Twilight went up to a Sheikah teen girl. She jumped at being addressed before speaking.

“Yes?” Her voice was timid.

“Do you know where W-Link is?” He asked. “He was supposed to come ahead, we’re his friends.”

“Oh,” she smiled, “M-master Link is with Koko right now. He said you all will be joining us for the harvest feast.”

Twilight thanked her. “Could you show me where he is?”

“R-right away!”

While Twilight went to find Wild, the others made themselves busy. Legend and Four went into the clothing shop. Sky was petting the random cucco that was fluttering around and Warriors was just taking in the environment. Wind playing with a korok and Hyrule was sitting down after walking for a while. Time was talking to a painter.

“Nice to see friends of Link around here,” the painter said, “friends that don’t want to kill him, that is. Isn’t that right?”

He leered at Time, yet stopped when he realized he wasn’t going to react.

“Just know if you do anything to him,” he muttered, “this town would raise hell.”

“I believe I don’t have to say the same would go for you,” Time scoffed, “you don’t have to worry about us, Link can take care of himself.”

The painter shrugged, “sure, but we Sheikah are loyal, so I felt the need to say it.”

It was then that Sky perked up. He stepped away from the bird and peered at the surrounding area like a sixth sense just had been activated.

“You good, birdbrain?” Legend asked as he walked out of the shop.

“Do you guys smell that?” He asked, “or am I imagining it.”

Wind sniffed the air, “I smell nothing.”

“Can’t believe your going senile already,” Warriors teased.

Sky glared, “or maybe you’re not as sharp as you hoped, because I definitely smell something.”

“No, no,” the painter addressed them all, “I smell it to. You’re smelling Koko’s cooking, she’s been getting better and better these past months. She demanded to make the pumpkin soup for this year’s festivities.”

“Pumpkin soup?” That’s why it smelt so familiar! It was the exact same smell from back home.

“Didn’t you know? Kakariko is famous for our fortified pumpkins.”

Sky was suddenly very pleased with the detour.

That was when a little girl ran up to them. She had a wooden spoon in her hand that was bigger than her face and orange splotches all over her. She also had the brightest grin ever.

“Are you Link’s friends?” She shouted.

Nods and a choruses of yeses rang out.

“Come with me!” She grabbed the nearest person’s hand, which was Wind’s, and dragged them away. The rest followed with no other option.

When they turned the bend of the road, they saw Wild at a cooking pot, like he almost always was, and he was talking to an old woman sitting on a chair pillow. He heard them coming and ran up to them, Twilight following behind.

“What took you so long?” He asked annoyed, but he didn’t seem mad.

“You had a horse the size of god,” Legend pointed out.

“Is it time?” The girl looked at Wild.

He nodded, “it’s time! Would you like to do the honors?”

The girl squealed with delight and ran to the pot. Within minutes, everyone in the group was handed a small pumpkin filled with soup by her. Now everyone could smell it and it was enticing.

“It is time for you to taste test Koko’s food, with help from Link,” the girl, Koko, told them, “hurry, I need to make it even better the second time for tonight.”

Without complaint, the Links ate. It was really good, but that was to be expected if Wild had helped her along, but there was no doubt that Koko had been at the forefront. They knew Wild’s cooking by now, and this only tasted slightly like it. Still, it was amazing.

They all told Koko as much, but she huffed.

“There has to be something wrong with it,” she muttered, “and I need to fix it.”

“How about we try this,” Wild grinned and pulled something out of his slate: Goron spice.

While the group grimaced, Koko looked ecstatic.

“That would be perfect,” she told him, “Koko’s never cooked with Goron spice before. We must get started right away.”

The old woman could be heard laughing as Wild told them to explore town as he helped Koko create, what they claimed would be, a better soup than that.

Wild couldn’t help laughing as he pulled out even more pumpkins to start again.

Chapter Text

There are legends.

There are legends of many things.

There are legends of heroes, spirits, gods, and demons. Horses, fruits, trees, and streams. Mountains, paths, morals, and feelings. The past, the future, the present, and nowhere. Stars, the moon, the sun, and meteors. Blades of grass and blades of steal. Dragons on land, in the sky, or under the water. Hope, sadness, and folly. Sleep, waking dreams, and idle thoughts. There are legends of everything.

One particular legend speaks of an infinite ocean that stretches below the surface of the ground. Below even the deepest of caves and unreachable by any means, the infinite ocean lies in wait. Wherever water is needed, lakes, streams, or above ground oceans, the infinite ocean rises up and creates the ground water.

If this legend is to be believed, every bit of water that touches the sky is from one source. Water does not come down in rain, but rather falls up in rivers. Waterfalls work in reverse and physics change to fit around the infinite ocean.

Why would the world work like this? Where did the infinite ocean come from? Who controls it and how does it know to pull up more water when a dam breaks?

None of that matters, for it is just a legend.

Let’s move onto another legend.

For the more mathematical or philosophical persons, the world is created out of just three sides shapes. Triangles and polygons align in just a way that makes the illusion of roundness. They believe the further you get from something, the more you can see this illusion tumble apart.

In this legend, nothing can ever truly be round. There will always be a straight line that connects it to one another. Your eyes, while spheres, are merely tricked into thinking they are so.

Why is this believed? How was it discovered? What is the point?

None of that is important, for it is just something to think about when bored.

One more final legend.

There is an ever bright, ever burning fire at the heart of the universe. It is no star, otherwise it would have died and exploded thousands of years ago. It can appear as a ginormous blaze or a small spark. It can feel like home or like death.

The fire runs on the kindle of the mind. From the stories told around it or from the souls who have wasted away. Or it exists off the strengths of one. Sometimes it follows a specific person to just see what would happen to them, encouraging them to move forward as it feeds like a parasite.

Like the infinite ocean or the world of triangles, the fire is something only speculated, but it is believed by many. Unlike those other legends, though, the ever burning fire is not known to those who believe. It isn’t something you think about, it’s something you feel in the world. If someone did realize that the fire was there, it would feel right to claim that it was still alive and burning.

The fire began, or, at least, the furthest back we can mark it down, in a cave with a singular inhabitant. The fire’s only company was an old man that sheltered near for warmth. It had been burning in that cave for years and years when, one day, a boy game in. His green tunic contrasted the barren world and the red fire, he was so bright.

The fire went with him as the old man handed over a sword of cold ice.

With newfound courage, the boy in green fought through many dungeons and slayed countless beasts. Not even for a second did he consider to turn back, not with the fire within him was burning.

He saved a princess, and then another. He killed a villain and stopped him from being reborn. He had succeeded in everything he wished.

And so, the fire moved on. With no more passion to fuel it, the fire needed a different kind of kindling.

The next place we find the fire is in a castle. It hides in a torch and watches the royalty pass and fight. Another princess is hurt by another supposed king of a man and another boy dressed in green appears.

Hair smothered in fire and garbed with life, the boy stormed into the castle to save the princess. The fire went with him, seeing the promise of a bright future.

This boy did so much more than the last. He saved the princess, and then he left the country. He went over the sea, only surviving the cold and wet storms with the fire burning within him, and saved other lands. He learned the power of fire and fall on his own merits and could shape anything to his will.

Later on, he saved the princess again and then traveled to another country again. This boy never lost his resolve like the other one, he was never satisfied with staying still and staying at peace. The fire ate away at his courage, but the boy had plenty to spare.

And he was so bright.

Eventually, the fire grew bored of the boy. You could only witness the same princess being kidnapped so many times, at least the first one had two different monarchs attacked. Whatever happened after it left, the fire did not know. Surely the boy didn’t need it to keep fighting anyhow.

The fire, now bigger than ever, found its new home in destruction. It found a wide expanse for it to live and suck out all of the nutrients: an empty and dry desert on the verge of collapse. There, it found a man with hair smothered in fire and garbed in dust. There, it discovered something new to burn: power.

This man yearned for it so much, and it was so easy to push. One tiny flicker of light was all he needed to be certain of a decision. The fire watched as conspiracies were planned and wars were fought and it took it all in with delight. The power was something none of those boys before hand had, and it was captivating.

It was almost a decade after the fire’s stay did its opinion changed. The man was getting dull with all his goals but one achieved and the fire was about to go away once more. Then, a boy dressed in green appeared.

He looked like a man, yes, but he definitely was not one by any means except height. He stumbled over his own legs, what little he spoke was garbled in voice cracks, and the fire could tell he was so scared. Yet, he refused to back away as the man raised his arm full of power.

If this boy won this fight, the fire decided, it would go with him. It could see a little light shining through him.

Needless to say, the boy in green left the castle that day, seven years prior, with a new fire burning in his soul. The fire followed the boy as he went to a dream like land and saw nightmares no one would dare let a child see, but the boy marched forward.

The fire was disappointed, still. The boy wasn’t honorable like the first one, vengeful like the second, or power hungry like the man, he was just tired. The push inside of him was just spite forcing him to continue kicking, but there was no real reason behind it. For the first time in its life, the fire felt…cold.

The fire left right after the boy returned home.

In the next era of its existence, the fire took a rest. It was contempt with watching as a boy in green chased after the wind with four echoes trailing behind. The echoes, though shadows of the leader, were somehow, inexplicably, made of light. Interesting kindling he’d make, the fire was sure, but it needed rest and to be small for a bit.

After, it found itself in another ocean. This time it was buried under thousands and thousands of gallons of tears of the gods and there it stayed for a long while. Every blue moon, it would feel a tug calling to it, but it stayed still and did not move.

One day, something grabbed the fire. Something was pulling it from the depths, up, up, up into the light and above the water. And there was a boy dressed in green, and he wasn’t about to let go.

Against its will, the fire was dragged along by this boy as he did what all the others do. Save a princess, fight a man, and go to another dream or country, all while smiling so brightly.

That boy held on tight to the fire, even though he didn’t know it was there. It took forever for the fire to free itself and, when it did, it found itself in darkness.

It was vaguely aware as a man garbed in steel hid it away before, of course, a boy in green appeared before it.

Etcetera, etcetera, the boy saved two princesses and probably went to another country. Though cloaked in shadows, the true nature of the boy shone through.

The fire at this point was done. It did not want to deal with anymore of this. In the next life it took all of its rage and grew, grew until it was big enough to smother the infinite ocean of legend. It didn’t even notice as it was pushed into submission by a demon wreathed in flames since it was still allowed to destroy. It didn’t notice when the demon was banished again and again by a bright boy in green. The fire was still angry.

It then spread itself out farther than it had ever done before. Going to a time, every and any time, and cast itself over every soldier in battle. It took the courage, power, and strain of the soldiers for its kindling. It ended stories that weren’t interesting while perpetuating the cycle of violence for it’s own benefit. The boy in green was barely a speck on the fire’s vision, no matter how bright he was.

But it still wanted more. It went to one last finale time and it burned down the world. There was fire everywhere as the kingdom collapsed within itself and the screams of the people sounded like the popping of fire crackers. Bamboo shoots exploded in rays of light as they struck people without relent.

After that, there was silence.

A whole kingdom burning left very little to do. It left behind a barren world with only the old for company. The fire burned out its raged and nature slowly overtook it as it returned to its small size of eons past and future.

Now, it was a simple campfire, content with living on the survivors who passed by and only had the energy to keep themselves alive and nothing more. There were no more stories to burn, with all the authors dead, and nothing power hungry or courageous to ask for its assistance.

After a hundred years like that, the fire was vaguely aware of it being dragged a short distance upon a rudimentary torch by a boy in blue. The wood burned out and the fire fell back to the ground.

Some say to this day that the fire is still there and waiting. One day it might want what it used to have, but for now it is only there if someone needs a quick break or light.

Do not be mistaken, the fire has not gone out and does not simply need to be relit, it is just biding its time. Cackling softly under an ever autumn sky as it is ever burning.

That is the legend of the fire at the heart of the universe.

Why tell this story? Why talk about a legend that is barely know and only felt? Why share anything like this, anything that isn’t a tangible thing in the world? What is the point?

That does not matter, it is a legend, nothing more, nothing less. But a legend is a mighty fine thing to be, there is nothing bigger, or smaller, than one. You can never say it is true, but it can never be declared completely false.

We tell legends because they are fun to tell. They are entertaining and teach us things about ourselves. They make the world seem grand and exciting or scary and terrible. It gives a reality to the superficial and a name to the unknown.

The infinite ocean erodes and changes everything beyond our control, yet still can be commanded by the moon. The world may be full of straight lines, but we can bend them to our will and shape anything we want. There is an ever burning fire, but we decide how bright it is with how much we feed it.

It is just a legend, one of many, but the fire is still burning, regardless.

Chapter Text

Wild shook awake with a flash of heat. His fight or flight response kicked in out of nowhere as he knocked away his blanket and jumped out of his bedroll. He grabbed his slate and pulled out a simple knight’s sword, ready to attack whatever woke him up.

But there was nothing. Everyone around him was sleeping peacefully and there were no monsters. No one even shifted at Wild’s sudden movement. Twilight was missing, but he was probably scouting for his watch; he probably got distracted staring at the horizon like he usually did in the morning and evenings.

So what awoke him?

The crickets of the night were still making a lot of noise, even with the sun steadily rising above the horizon in the distance. It wasn’t particularly cold, so that couldn’t have been it. On the contrary, it was surprisingly warm for the lateness of the season.

Wild looked at his bedroll. There was a sliver of light that shone on the pillow, perhaps that was it. Perhaps just the teeny amount of sunlight was enough to jolt him awake. He was fine, they weren’t under attack, everything was okay.

Staring back at the sun, he figure he had at least an hour more to be able to sleep. He hadn’t been sleeping well recently, so he needed all he could get. Swapping the positioning of his pillow, Wild covered himself in his blanket and tried to fall back asleep.

Yet he couldn’t. It wasn’t like he was awake and just couldn’t go back to sleep, it was that, whenever he was near the cusp, his eyes would shoot back open with no warning. He wriggled and moved around, hoping to find some position that would allow him to rest, but nothing changed.

Why couldn’t he sleep? He moved away from the light and is covering his head, he should be able to. His breathing went ragged as anxiety built up within him. Why was he feeling this way? Nothing brought on any new anxiety recently, at least none that he could think of. The fight or flight response came back and he was shaking.

Why was it so warm? He chucked the blanket off of him, feeling like he was on fire. It couldn’t have just been in his mind, since he was physically sweating. It felt like the first level of Death Mountain, or being in between Gerudo Town and the oasis. The sweat soaked his tunic and made him feel grosser than it should’ve been.

There were a lot of shoulds and coulds running through his mind right then. He was tired, he just wanted to rest, instead it was as if Hylia was sending a heat storm that only affected him.

Someone make it stop, please, he thought.

Then, he heard a small bark. It was a little low, yet wasn’t full of malice. When Wild managed to think and see past the uncomfortableness, he saw Wolfie staring down at him.

“T-twi?” His voice was shaky as he tried to touch the wolf, but he shot his hand back before doing so.

Wolfie tilted his head in confusion and concerned. He then did what he normally did when Wild was having a panic attack, he padded around in a circle and laid against him so Wild would have something to latch onto, something solid and tangible and real.

Instead of Wild taking comfort in the beast being near, though, he shook away. Almost like a caged animal that had just been released, Wild scurried away.

From his perspective, Wild saw Wolfie and wanted so badly to wallow in his care, but, the moment the wolf touched him, the temperature grew ten fold. A gigantic dog covered in fur as much more body mass, and therefore heat, than a small Hylian and it overwhelmed him. Anything above a neutral temperature now felt like fire.

Wolfie shifted into human form and Twilight slowly crept towards Wild, who was leaning against a tree for support and for its shade.

“Cub, what’s wrong?” He asked.

“I-I don’t know,” he stuttered, “it’s-it’s so hot, Twi. Please, make it stop.”

“It’s hot?” Twilight was confused. It felt like it was around 65 degrees for him, which was a little hot for the year but it was also no where near the highest temperature Wild had ever faced. “Do you need some of your hear resistant gear?”

He nodded, “can you get it for me, I-uh, I-“

He was starting to feel light headed and couldn’t think straight anymore. Twilight rushed over and took the Sheikah Slate from his hand, careful not to touch Wild. While he didn’t like it, he had been taught how to navigate the slate in times of emergencies. He scrolled to the armor inventory and pulled out Wild’s sapphire circlet, which, if he remembered correctly, was meant to cool him down in hot places, or at least make the heat more durable to bear. He set down the slate and set the circlet on Wild’s head.

Almost immediately, Wild felt intense relief in his head and mind. The cooling enchantment of the sapphires allowed him to open his eyes and see clearly, while his mind started to work again. All was not well, though, as his body still felt like it was on fire.

“You better now?”

Wild shook his head, “it’s still hot.”

Twilight bit his lip, “where exactly is it hot.”

He thought for a moment, “everywhere? It feels like it’s coming from everywhere, but it’s worse on my left side.”

From his waist to the bottom of his neck, where his circlet’s magic ran out, the hear seemed to be pulsating and centering there. The rest of him was still at least warm, but it was more bearable on his right side.

Twilight placed the back of his palm on his forehead, “you don’t have a fever, but that might just be the circlet right now. Can I-?”

“No!” Wild shouted before shrinking, “please, no.”

He sighed, “alright. What are you doing up this early, did…whatever this is wake you?”

His face contorted in pain, “don’t know.”

It was then that Wild noticed how high the sun was starting to become. The whole circumference could be seen as the sunrise blinded would have blinded him if Twilight was blocking its path. Twilight was being haloed by the sun and was casting his shadow onto Wild.

“-ub, Wild?” Twilight was talking? What did he say?

Wild’s vision was blurring again, only being able to see the light and darkness contrasting and some movement as Twilight spoke. Whatever he was saying wasn’t reaching his ears, and it was all too late before Wild realized he was going into a memory.

-

Link was laying down on the ground, someone holding him so that his head wasn’t laying in the dirt. He felt an arm being draped over him and another propping his back slightly up. His entire body was enflamed and he felt like his left side was disintegrating. He looked up to see a person, haloed in light, and speaking to him in a concerned voice.

“Link, you can’t leave me, too,” the voice was female, it was Zelda!

This was where the Wild part of Link’s brain started to function. In reality, Wild had already recovered this memory, it was when he died, and he honestly was wondering why he was remembering this a second time. In his mind, it was still very painful and felt different to the last time. Not everything was focused and he thought he was more aware than this. It was as if the last memory was from an outsiders perspective and this one was from only the angle of a dying man.

The sounds of explosions, fire, screaming, and even Zelda’s close voice faded out. Link tried to move his head, to open his mouth, to do anything, but it dropped instead. His eyes closed and the fire overtook him.

He was vaguely aware as someone unceremoniously picked him up and slugged him over their shoulder. Wild could tell that a distance was being traveled and that time had passed in the memory, but Link was out of it.

He felt another shift as he was laid onto something hard and buzzing with electricity. Something like popping air sounded and he heard one last thing.

“It’ll be alright, Linky,” a young woman’s voice said mournfully, “you’ll get better, you’ll be better than ever!”

She seemed like she was trying to convince herself of that.

A clunk cut off her speaking and then there was silence. Wild noticed as some liquid was being poured onto Link and-it was hot.

Whatever it was, lava, acid, or boiling water, it made the burning injuries from before look like a matchstick. Wild felt like Link was being melted down and rearranged into a similar yet different shape. The heat never died down and the time it took went one forever and ever.

And then, Wild snapped out of his memory.

-

It was around noon, judging by the sun being directly above Wild as his senses returned to him. It was a familiar situation, just him and Twilight alone, everyone else nowhere in sight. He was just going to assume that Twilight told them to move on ahead like last time.

Twilight heard him moving and walked to him from wherever else he was standing a minute before. He stayed a little bit away, unsure of whether or not to approach closer.

“Welcome back,” he said jokingly, though he did not smile.

Wild sat up, no longer feeling on fire. His tunic was drenched in sweat, so he went to his slate and temporarily put on his Hylian tunic. He also returned the circlet, no longer needing it.

“Thanks,” he mumbled.

“You want to talk about it?”

He shook his head but still spoke, “dying’s more painful than it should be.”

Twilight snorted.

He continued, “I’m glad he didn’t have to live through that, as morbid as that sounds.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at the tone of voice Wild used when he said “he,” immediately recognizing who he was talking about: Link, himself from before the Calamity.

“So,” he started slowly, “you remembered death itself this time? I’m sorry.”

Wild shrugged, “or whatever was death for me. I don’t know if it even counts as being dead, but it sure felt like it and more.”

Twilight said nothing.

He stood up, “we should get going. You should just pick me up next time I am remembering so we don’t have to be left behind.”

He picked up his bed roll and put it in the slate. He ignored Twilight’s protests and started walking in the direction that the group was supposed to have been going through that day.

“Cub, wait!” Twilight grabbed his shoulder, “if you need to rest we can rest. We’re the best trackers in the group, it’s not like we’ll get lost.”

“But they could get hurt,” he mumbled, “if I just lay out of commission while they need us and I could’ve helped, then it’ll be our fault if they get injured.”

“Your safety is important, too,” Twilight commented, “and the others are more than capable.”

Wild finally tossed off Twilight’s hand from his shoulder. He sneered and continued to walk faster, ignoring what he imagined to be a burning imprint of a hand holding him back. He scrolled through his slate, giving him an excuse as to not look Twilight in the eye.

“We better hurry,” he said to no one, “the slate says it’s going to rain soon.”

He didn’t say aloud that he hoped it would. Though he was no longer burning and sweating, he longed for the calming rains of Hyrule Field or the snow of the Hebra Region.

“Cub-“

“What?!” Wild snapped and turned around, annoyed.

Twilight had a soft smile with pained eyes, “the others went in the other direction.”

He pointed back to where they came. Wild stared at him with disbelief before breaking a grin and chuckling.

“Fine, then,” he softened up, “lead the way.”

Twilight nodded and off they went. Over the coming hour of trying to catch up with the group, Wild rebounded from his sorry state and started joking and talking to Twilight about other things.

And, when it began to rain, it felt very cool.

Chapter Text

“One,” Four raised a finger as he spoke, “I am a quadruplet.”

There were some scoffs from the group, already disbelieving him. Wind looked excited, hoping that that was true.

“Two,” he raised another one, “I use magic to be shorter than I really am.”

Warriors’ barked out a laugh, “trying to hide your shame about your height? We all know you’re that height against your will.”

“Three,” he finished, “this hood can talk, he’s just sleeping ever since I finished my first adventure. Which is the lie?”

There was silence as the group contemplated. They all sounded like lies, but they’re lives were weird enough it was hard to say.

“Has anyone else had a talking hat?” Wild asked, “you seem to have a repeating theme with items.”

The group shook their heads, Time taking a bit longer to do so.

“Quadruplets, you say?” Legend raised an eyebrow, “how come you’ve never mentioned them before?”

Four shrugged, “you never asked.”

“I still don’t think you use magic to be this short,” Warriors chuckled, “that’s the lie.”

“Is that what all of you are going with?”

“I’m going with height,” Wind agreed, “just cause I want the first one to be true.”

“I’m saying the hood,” Wild decided, “you guys just really like how dumb your hats look.”

Legend protectively grabbed the end of his cap, “I’m saying quadruplets is the lie.”

Time simply said, “three.”

Hyrule ended up voting for quadruplets and Sky voted for the height. Twilight, after some consideration, ended up agreeing with Time and Wild and said three as well.

Four leaned back, “it was three.”

Immediately outrage or excitement bursted forth from the group at the announcement. Wild high-fived Twilight at their victory and Warriors looked lost about life.

“How?” He asked, wide eyed, “how tall are you actually?!”

Four’s eyes glinted purple in the fire light, “that’s for me to know, and you to forever wonder. Don’t mock my height.”

Man, he loved bulling them. Now they’ll assume he used magic to be his normal height, and not just used magic to become two inches tall.

“Yeah, this is just a replica,” he explained, pointing to his hood, “Ezlo was never one to be quiet.”

“So you have three other brothers?” Wind grinned, “what are they like?”

“Well,” his eyes flashed to green, “Blue is a bit of hothead and Red’s overly emotional…”

Hey! A voice in his head huffed. Was that Red or Blue! Eh, it wasn’t important at the moment.

“…and Vio’s a nerd,” he explained, “they’re probably protecting Hyrule right now as we’re doing.”

Half truths are awesome, Vio decided, it was fun to mess with people.

And you say Shadow didn’t rub off on you, Blue would have rolled his eyes if he could have.

“Who’s next?”

“Ooh, me, me, me!” Wind raised his arm, “can I go!”

“Calm down, sailor,” Warriors pulled him back to his spot on the ground, “no one’s stopping you.”

“Okay,” he took a deep breath, “these are my pajamas…”

He pointed to his blue lobster tunic.

“…I have drank three glasses of rum in one sitting,” he paused for a second, “uhh, I know how to play the violin, a friend taught me.”

“We’re getting you new clothes,” Warriors decided, “because that one’s true.”

Wind pouted, “you didn’t have let everyone know.”

“You really shouldn’t be drinking so young,” Time commented, “the second one’s also true, your Captain Linebeck told me.”

“Yeah,” Legend nodded, “the lie’s the violin, you paused for a while to think about it and you gave too much information compared to the others.”

“Yeah,” he crossed his arms, “darn it. Who’s next?”

“I’ll go,” Warriors raised a two finger salute, “one, I, uh, created my Dark Link, two, I am the best archer in my time, besides Her Highness, and, three, the castle is in possession of over a hundred paintings of just me.”

“You created your Dark Link?” Hyrule questioned.

“Yeah, inadvertently, it was made from me,” he said with a slight tilt of his head.

“I’ve never seen you use a bow,” Twilight pointed out, “but you could just not have one.”

“The Dark Link thing is true,” Wind said, “since we had to fight some Dark Cia’s when we went to his world.”

“I think the bow’s the lie,” Sky nodded.

Warriors put up a mock hand of pain to his chest, “you wound me, none of you even questioned the paintings.”

“You’re ego’s big enough,” Legend smirked. “Is it the lie?”

He grumbled, “no, it was the bow. In my defense, the paintings were made by Cia and we just haven’t burned them yet. Can’t believe you thought I’d want that…”

Sky patted him on the shoulder, “I can go next, just let me think of them.”

He looked up at his name sake and hummed before looking back at the group.

“My girlfriend is a historian,” he started, “my girlfriend is a knight, and my girlfriend is an amazing singer.”

Crickets sounded and the clearing grew silent. Sky, unsurprisingly, spoke of his Zelda, but it was dangerous to say anything about any of those. It was now a game on how to best say that his girlfriend isn’t one of those without insulting her.

If they say she isn’t a historian and she is, then that might them saying that she isn’t that smart. If they say she wasn’t a knight and she is, then that’s as if they’re saying she isn’t as capable a fighter. If they insult her singing, whether she truly is good or not, Sky would take offense regardless.

“We’re going to ignore the last one,” Warriors decided quickly, “it has to be either one or two.”

“My Zelda is a historian and scientist,” Wild raised a hand, “but I’m after all of you, so it probably doesn’t count for anything.”

“Mine’s a general.”

“Both of mine just run the government,” Hyrule added.

“Mine’s a fighter,” Time spoke.

Twilight said, “I don’t know if she actually fought, but she did have a lot of swords.”

He no way wants to mention that he only ever fought his Zelda when she was possessed. Still, he doesn’t ever want to see if that was Ganon’s power or her own.

Four stated that his Princess just ran the government and Wind said Tetra was a pirate through and through proudly. Legend weighed his options before agreeing with fighter.

“Guys, wait,” Wild raised his hands defensively, “we’re overlooking something.”

“What?” Sky asked with a smile.

“You don’t have a history!” He laughed, “you’re the beginning of all of this and have lived in the sky up until recently, there’s no way she is a historian.”

A round of groans and laughs sang out at the realization. Sky’s face let them all know that that was the lie.

“Yeah,” he admitted sheepishly, “that how me and Zelda became friends, we both went to the knight academy together. Who’s next?”

Hyrule sat up straight, “can I? Uh, I am the future king of Hyrule, I am not Hyrulean, and I kidnapped a princess before.”

“If you aren’t Hyrulean, what are you?” Sky asked, intrigued.

“My family’s from Calatia,” he bit his lip.

“What the f*ck is Calatia?” Legend narrowed his eyes, “that’s a lie, I have never heard of that country and I’m right before you in the timeline.”

“And him being king is more likely?” Four voiced his concern.

“Two princesses, both of whom he saved,” Legend explained, “wouldn’t doubt if he fell for one of them.”

Hyrule’s face burst into red and Legend laughed. They at least cleared that one up.

“I think it’s the Calatia one,” Sky said, “if Legend didn’t recognize it then…”

The group all agreed, with only Time voting for the third option to be the lie.

Hyrule smiled, “I’ve never kidnapped a princess. I took that from Legend.”

“You moTHERF-“

“Language!”

“So,” Wild started, “Calatia is a real place?”

He nodded, “it fairly new, I don’t actually know much about it. I’ve in Hyrule most of my life, anyhow.”

“I’m going next,” Legend grumbled angrily, “my natural hair color is purple like Ravio, I blew up a country, and I’ve met the gods, maybe.”

Maybe?

“You can’t say maybe,” Wind complained, “that doesn’t count!”

He shrugged, “take it or leave it.”

“If his hair was purple that’d explain the dying,” Wild gestured to his currently bubblegum pink hair.

“But blew up a country?” Twilight chuckled, “even Wild’s not that bad of an arsonist.”

“Blew up, disintegrated,” Legend in a semi sing-song voice, “ceased to exist, to-mate-to, to-mah-to.”

“Why are you so vague,” Warriors moaned.

“What maybe gods?” Wind asked, “do you mean lesser deities or you don’t know if they were gods.”

“Both.”

“Really not liking you right now, veteran.”

“Same to you as always, pretty boy,” Legend grinned, “ten seconds on the clock.”

“Since when was there a timer?! The country blowing up is the lie.”

“I think it’s the hair,” Hyrule said.

“Same,” Wind chimed.

“I think the maybe gods is true,” Wild murmured, “I’m going with the country.”

Twilight ended up voting for the the hair, which Legend glared at him for, and Time voted the same. That left as Sky and Four voted for the country blowing up.

“Natural blond,” Legend said with pride, “no way would I ever look more like Ravio than I already do.”

“That’s why I thought you dyed it,” Wild huffed, “what country did you blow up?”

“Calatia,” he lied through his teeth, “that’s for another game, you only get two reveals from me today.”

“Wait,” Four knitted his eyebrows together, “was the maybe gods Nayru, Din, and Farore?”

“You know them?”

“They live in my Castletown. Are they actually time travelers?!”

“I knew they were time traveling outside of their duties!”

Once everyone calmed down, Twilight stood up for his turn.

“I have wrestled the patriarch of the Goron tribe and won,” he started off.

“Bragging and throwing around your weight, I see,” Wild teased.

“Ssh,” Twilight smiled, “I have fallen off of a bridge multiple times and lived, and I own a dog.”

“Oh, I know-“

Twilight clapped a hand over Wild’s mouth, blocking whatever he was going to say.

“You don’t get to play this time around, Cub,” he chastised, “ew! Did you just lick me?!”

He removed his hand and Wild stuck his tongue out in annoyance and confirmation.

“How big was the Goron?” Time asked.

“Twice my size,” he told them, “but I fought an even bigger one, but that wasn’t just wrestling.”

“Why’d you fall off a bridge?” Sky raised his hand.

“It was on fire.”

“I have so many questions.”

It ended up being that Legend and Hyrule voted for the Goron, most likely because they’ve never seen one before. Warriors, Wind, Sky, and Four all voted for the bridge. Time abstained from voting. No one voted for the dog.

“I don’t own a dog!” He waved his arms, insulted.

“You always act so friendly to them and pick them up,” Sky protested.

“Plus,” Wind scrunched up his nose, “you always smell like a wet dog. I think Wolfie licks you are something.”

Legend’s bark of a laugh rivaled Twilight’s dead stare.

“My turn,” Wild proclaimed.

“This is going to be hard,” Hyrule whispered. Wild was the craziest out of all of them, there’s no telling what he would do.

“I once scammed a creepy dude out of two separate pairs of boots,” he began, “I have been struck by lightning twenty separate times, one of which was intentional, and I have ridden a dragon.”

“I very badly want two to be the lie,” Twilight put his head into his hands, “but I also want three to be-scratch that, I want every word that ever came out of your mouth to be a lie.”

“Why would you want to be intentionally struck by lightning?” Legend grimaced.

Wild shrugged, “shrine quest. If it helps, half of the strikes were from the dragon.”

“Why did you get someone’s boots?” Wind tilted his head.

“Because he was being creepy,” he repeated, “he was flirting with me and wouldn’t leave me or the Gerudo alone, so I figure it was only fair to leave him barefoot in the desert.”

“I support that,” Legend laughed.

Sky nodded, “I’m sure you were justified in what you were doing, but I think it’s a lie that you got two pairs from him.”

“For my sanity,” Twilight voted, “I’m saying the lightning better be a lie.”

“I’m going with the dragon,” Four said.

Time voted for the boots, “why would this man have two different set of shoes and give both of them away in the desert?”

Wild snorted, “he’s weird, don’t ask me.”

Hyrule and Legend voted for the lightning and Warriors and Wind went for the dragon.

“Have you seen my dragons?” Wild asked, “I would love to ride them, but I’d be dead before touching them. That’s where half of those half of lightning strikes came from.”

Twilight could almost picture a wild Wild ride Farosh to the stable and trying register him as a steed.

“Twenty times?” He groaned, “every day I wonder how you didn’t die a second time.”

And with that, everyone stared at Time expectantly. With a soft smile, he leaned forward.

“I’ve fought the moon-“

“Not this one again!”

“Fine,” he laughed, “I’ll choose a different truth. I saw Malon once chuck a cow into a treehouse when we were ten, my Queen Zelda has beaten me in a fight on three separate occasions, and…”

The glint in his eyes was mischievous.

“…I can’t play the ocarina.”

The details in the first two statements vs the shortness of the third one, the look he had that said he knew what he was doing, the fact that he carried an ocarina everywhere and that made it unlikely he didn’t know how to play the darn thing, everything about that threw them off.

“You are definitely messing with us,” Twilight said, almost like he was trying to convince himself, “you told us you’ve used that before.”

“I said Her Majesty used it to send me back in time,” he waved a finger, “and who ever said you needed to play it to work?”

“You said Malon when she was ten?” Wind changed the subject, “how big was the cow?”

“Full size.”

“You said earlier your Zelda is a fighter,” Four recalled, “but that could be a long con. In this time or Wind’s?”

“I don’t have to answer that.” The way he was smiling unnerved them all.

“I swear,” Legend shouted, “somehow it’s going to end up all of these are true. F*ck it, I’m going with the ocarina, you wouldn’t still be carrying it if it didn’t have a use.”

Wind, Warriors, and Four voted for the Malon anecdote to not be true. Wild and Hyrule voted for the Queen Zelda story to be false. Sky joined Legend in voting for the ocarina, after all, he seemed to have some knowledge of music when they talked. That just left Twilight.

“I trust Malon, but,” Twilight sighed, “I don’t believe at ten she could do that, maybe not even now.”

Twilight clapped him on the back, “she’ll be sad to her that, pup, she was really proud of that accomplishment. Of course I can play the ocarina.”

“It was a red herring!” Wild shouted dramatically.

“I’m honestly shocked half of you boys fell for it.”

And that was the end of the game. They learned a lot about each other then, supposedly, but they also became more confused about everyone. No matter what was the truth or the lie, though, anything a time traveling hero of destiny said was surprising.

Chapter Text

“Navi?” A young boy of age 10, but looking like he was 17, grumbled awake. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and readjusted his hat. “Where’d you go?”

A fairy danced in and out of his blurred vision, but Link knew by now what Navi’s chiming and bells sounded like. Navi sounded like the clanging of metal mixed with a single bell being rocked back and forth quickly. This fairy was a little lower and tone and matched more wind chimes. This fairy also was a mix of white, yellow, and blue, instead of Navi’s full blue.

Now fully awake, Link pouted at this unknown fairy.

“Who are you?”

“Oh, do you know where Link is?” The fairy seemed to only just realize his presence, “or that no good Linebeck, for that matter? I fell asleep on the ship and oh-why are you staring at me like that?”

“I’m Link,” he pointed at himself, “but you’re not Navi, where is she?”

“You’re Link?!” The fairy huffed and looked him up and down, eyeing his choice of fashion, “I didn’t realize Kokiri got so big. Well, this won’t do at all, Link #2-“

“Hey!”

“My name is Ciela, and you’re going to help me find my partner. In return, I’ll help you find yours, deal?”

-

“Link, Link, dear!” Malon shook him awake, “you best get up, you’ll want to see this.”

From the internal clock that always ran in Time, he knew it was an hour before they were supposed to get up for any farm work. What on earth had brought Malon to be so up and at em before the sun was even showing?

“What is it, darling?” He grabbed her arm in time to stop her from slapping him.

She took a sharp breath, “there’s a someone here, looking for a Link. They won’t give me their name, but they’re small, blue, and have a lot of spunk.”

Time’s eye widened, she didn’t mean?

“There’s a fairy asking for her partner,” she smiled.

Time never got up so fast, unless he was under attack. With a quick peck on the cheek, he ran past her, out of the bedroom, to the front room. He could hear the chiming, and dread filled within him.

He remembered Navi’s chiming to a T, clanging of metal mixed with a ringing bell, but this fairy was different. They sounded like a whistle who’s player couldn’t breath longer than half a second. It was a high pitch ring with sharp stops.

The fairy, who was bouncing around nervously in the foyer, was still the same shade as his Navi, and similar size. With a frown, he recovered this fairy from a long time ago, but it wasn’t his companion.

“Hi!” The fairy sped over and looked him over, “this miss said that Link lived here, but you don’t look like him, unless it’s the future. What year is it?”

He told her the year, “I’m Link, but I’m not the Captain, Proxi.”

The fairy, Proxi, froze, “you know me and the Captain? And what year?”

From the corner of his eye, he could see Malon watching him warily. He waved her away, but still she stayed.

“The army called me Young Link,” he explained.

“Oh, Sprite!” She giggled out the nickname, “you’re really big now.”

“I try,” he said dryly, “now, how did you get here?”

-

When Warriors woke up, it wasn’t with a fairy shoving herself into his ear, so, of course, he realized something was wrong. He sat up from his bunk in his private quarters and looked around.

“Proxi?” He called out.

A chime rang out, indicating that there was a fairy in the room.

“You’re not one to play games,” he commented, “something up?”

A worried chime.

“You want to talk about it?”

Something moved out from under his bed and a blue fairy similar to Proxi bolted out. If Warriors was a little bit more tired, he would have thought that it was his fairy, but the way they acted led him to believe it was someone else.

“Who…are you?” He said slowly. Lost fairies were common in his time, what with the portals everywhere, though his fairy usually stayed by his side.

“I’m Navi!” Navi rang, “I’m sorry, I woke up here and I’m confused. I was with my partner Link just last night…oh, and the castle was blown up, so that might be important.”

The window in the room clearly showed the brilliant Hyrule Castle. Navi stared out at it like it was a wonder or a marvel.

“You say a Link?” He hummed, “short, wears a lot of green, bright blond hair in a dumb haircut, and has another fairy named Tatl?”

“Hey, listen,” Navi huffed, “don’t insult my partner. Also, only two of those things are even true. Link has never had another fairy besides me and he’s…well he’s tall.”

She paused at the comment of his height weird.

“So not Sprite, then,” he murmured before speaking louder, “well, Miss Navi, I’d be happy to help you find your partner, as mine has seemed to be missing right now, too. If you’ll follow me.”

He opened the door and the fairy followed.

“Wait, what’s your name?”

“Oh,” he laughed, “it’s Link, but call me Warriors.”

-

Hyrule felt like something was watching him. There wasn’t much in the world besides monsters and cultists, so this uneasy feeling was usually warranted. Still, he never saw or heard anything behind him or hiding in the trees. If whatever was following him, if something was following him, wanted to kill him, then they would have already.

At least that’s what he told himself.

Yeah, his paranoia was getting worse. Thanks Ganon cult!

After a couple more minutes of walking, he couldn’t take it anymore. He spun around, slashing his sword out in front of him.

“Who’s there?!” He shouted.

In the blink of an eye, something wizzed out of the trees and nearly smacked him in the head. Instead, it stopped moving two inches in front of him, allowing him to see that it was a tiny white bird with blue wings.

“H-hello?” He tilted his head. “Ow!”

The bird has pecked him!

-

Legend was having a good day. Well, a good day for him. He volunteered to go out alone, like usual, to clear out a group of monsters that were unusually strong. Fighting was normal for him and so far he hasn’t gotten injured, so it’s a good day.

“Alright,” he barred his teeth at the weird mutated lizalfos, “who’s next?!”

“Master,” a robotic voice sounded in his mind, “there is a monster about to strike you from behind.”

“What the hell-“ he swore as something kicked him in the back. His sword clamored to the ground beside him.

“Roll left, Master.”

Without thinking, he obeyed and just narrowly dodges a stab from a stalfos.

“Lady in my head?” He picked up his sword, noticing it felt slightly different, “who are you?”

“My designation is Fi.”

“Okay, Fi,” he slashed at the stalfos, decapitating it with one swing. That was strange, it usually took two swings, and these monsters were supposed to he harder. “Why are you in my head?”

“I’m not, I am merely speaking to you in your head. I am in your hand.”

His eyes widened as he realized what was different. He slashed at another monster, his sword cutting through like it was butter. But the metal of the blade was silver and not gold or pink. Looking down at the handle revealed a shape the resembled a bird’s wings in royal blue, not the rounded dull blue he was used to.

Legend killed all the rest of the monsters before dropping the sword to the ground. It looked like his sword, but it wasn’t. It was too good, and Hylia had already proven that he didn’t get good things.

“Lady, what did you do to my sword?” He sneered, feeling pretty stupid for yelling at an inanimate object.

A few quick notes played in his mind and in a puff of magic a woman in a blue and purple color scheme was floating in the air. She had eyes, but they had no pupils or irises or even moved. Whether or not she had arms was to be decided at a later time, since her shoulders were covered in a long cape.

“Time travel is a, excuse my phrasing,” her mouth moved at a different speed than her words, “messy. But I am Fi, the spirit tasked with watching over the Master Sword and serving its owner. It is an honor to meet you, Hero of Legend.”

-

Sky’s hair felt like a rat’s nest when he woke up. Have you ever woke up with such bad hair that it felt gross and wrong without even touching it? Yeah, that’s how he felt.

He moved to fix his hair but hit something soft. He tried to tug it off, yet it stayed firm. What was on him?

“Watch it!” An elderly voice complained, “it’s not nice to grab you know!”

What?

Sky found his reflection in a nearby shield. He was now wearing what looked like at first a cap similar to his knight’s cap, but it had a bird’s face at the end. Oh, yeah, and it was moving and talking.

He had a hat that was moving and talking.

“Hello?” He positioned the shield that they could both look at each other, “why are you on my head?”

The bird huffed, “I didn’t ask for this, I don’t even know why I’m an idiotic bird again. You look like a strong knight, take me to Link, he’ll know what to do?”

“Uh, I’m Link,” he frowned, “and I don’t know what to do.”

The bird clucked, “unfortunate. Well, my magic doesn’t sense any Minish portals around, so…I can’t believe I’m stuck with another Link again!”

“Get off my head, please.”

“Can’t sorry, lad,” the bird tutted, “my name is Ezlo, and we have a lot of work to do.”

-

There was a ghost in the center of the town square. No one could see her, which wasn’t odd. Many things went unnoticed in Castle Town, whether it being intentional or magical ignorance, this was just another one. The strange thing was that not even the kids who could see the Minish could see this ghost.

Four had been called over by some of the Minish, since the girl apparently couldn’t see them, and see if he could help. Luckily, he could clearly magic out the figure of a girl with blonde hair in a pun and wearing a pink dress. She almost looked like Princess Zelda before she started wearing her cape.

The ghost was trying to get someone’s, anyone’s, attention. She grabbed their arms and they fell through nothing and she shouted from the top of her lungs.

“Excuse me!” She kicked the pavement, “where am I? Why are you all just ignoring me?”

Four slowly approached the ghost, careful to avoid the passing public as he went.

“Miss,” he waved, “hi, do you need help?”

The ghost spun around with a smile at someone talking to her finally.

“Great, yes!” She shouted before calming down, “I was supposed to be on my ship but woke up here, and only you seem to be talking to me. Plus, this stupid dress…”

She gestured to her outfit, disgusted.

“…was definitely not what I had on previously,” she finished.

Four’s brain whirred. Was she telling the truth and she simply got caught up in some magic, or what is a situation where she doesn’t know she’s dead. He’d like to give the benefit of the doubt.

“First off,” he began, “my name is Four, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” the ghost shrugged, “I’m Z-Tetra.”

“Second off,” he decided to be tactless, “you do know you’re a ghost, right?”

“I’m a-?” She looked at her hands and her eyes widened. “Oh.”

So she didn’t know.

“I’m sorry for your passing, but-“

“No, ssh, shut up,” Tetra raised a finger, “this is kinda awesome, but at the same time I’m definitely alive.”

“I know you might be in d-“

“Again, shut it,” she waved him off, “there’s no way I’m dying of anything less than old age or a knife to the front, so I’m not dead. Even when I turned to fricking stone I wasn’t a ghost. This is something different.”

“Did you say-you were turned to stone,” that was an odd coincidence.

“Yeah, got kidnapped by a demon a while back,” she said it like it was no big deal, “tell me, where’s the Great Sea, or is this another dream scenario?”

“I’ve never heard of any sea with that name, and this definitely isn’t a dream.”

“Look who’s in denial now.”

-

The ship was in chaos. The captain was missing from what used to be a locked room (thank you to Gonezo for breaking in the door when she never answered for the fifth time) and there were two fairies that came from nowhere. As second in command and Hero of the Winds, Wind was in charge of interrogation.

“Us kidnapping someone?” The golden and loudmouth fairy proclaimed, “it’s not far fetched, but we don’t even know where we are. We didn’t kidnap your friend!”

“Sis,” the deep purple one warned, “this isn’t the time to mention…that.”

“How did you get on this ship?” Wind crossed his arms, trying to be intimidating.

“If you’re trying to be scary,” the golden fairy drawled, “it isn’t working, shrimp.”

“Hey, no insults,” the purple fairy interjected, “besides, it’d be lobster.”

Wind looked down at his tunic. He was still in his pajamas, sue him, his friend was missing.

“My name’s Tael,” the purple fairy told him, “and this is my sister, Tatl. What’s your name?”

“Link,” he answered slowly.

Tatl giggled, “yeah, you look like a Link.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know,” she flitted around him, “short, bright blond hair in a dumb haircut, looking for someone you’re missing. We know a guy just like you.”

“We’re really sorry your friend is missing, though,” Tael sounded legitimately remorseful, “we’ll help anyway we can to find them.”

Wind thought it over for a minute, “you’re the middle of the ocean, and I don’t think fairies can fly that far, so I guess you two can help.”

“WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN?!”

-

Someone was in Twilight’s shadow. Normally, that wasn’t weird, but now it needed to be stated. Midna had left him a while ago and there was no more Twili magic in the air.

So why was his shadow shaped like a small boy with a wicked grin.

“Get out,” he said, not in the mood. His shadow was for himself, and maybe Midna.

“That’s mean,” the shadow spoke back, “I come back from the dead and this is how I’m treated?”

“You’re in my shadow, Mr…?”

“It’s Shadow.”

Twilight narrowed his eyes, “is that a real alias or?”

Shadow huffed, “it’s my real name, believe it or not. I know a guy who’s name is Vio because he only wears violet, it can be worse. What’s your name?”

“Link.”

“As I said, could be worse.”

“I will step on you,” he threatened, “why are you here?”

Shadow shrugged, “don’t actually know, I was dead, but now I’m not. That’s pretty cool, I guess. That’s all your getting outta me, though, wolf dude.”

“How-“

“You are radiating so much shadow magic it’s insane, how has no one noticed? Wait, you wear a wolf’s pelt, isn’t that like cannibalism?”

“Changing the subject. Now.”

-

Blue eyes stared into orange, neither blinking.

“Are you…” Wild broke the silence first, “a weird bokoblin.”

Wrong this to say, wrong this to say, abort, abort!

The short blue imp growled, showing that it had sharp teeth, “I am a Twili! What are you, a weird horse?”

“Maybe, I’ve eaten grass,” he chuckled, “sorry, but I don’t know what a Twili is.”

“You Hylians wouldn’t, would you,” the Twili seemed miffed.

“It might be common knowledge, I just have amnesia.”

Something about that struck a chord in the imp. She froze before relaxing and put on a neutral expression to replace her more angry one she had on before.

“That’s alright, you can’t help that,” she said softly, “my name is Midna. The Twili are a tribe of people who were banished to the Twilight Realm years and years ago. We can’t survive in the light, only in shadows or darkness.”

“Is that why you’re in my tent?” He asked. “That’s sounds interesting, Zelda would love to meet you if you’re telling the truth-“

“Zelda?” Midna perked up, “you know the Queen?”

“You know her?” He sounded equally as shocked, “she isn’t Queen right now, but she’s getting there. And, yeah, she and I are living together right now.”

“You’re name wouldn’t happen to be Link, would it?”

He nodded, “at least that’s what I’m told. Hold on a second, I need to call on my companion, he’s been out for longer than normal.”

No companion would be found in that world, and the wolf track trail went cold after a bit. It was probably the portal that was not there an hour ago.

“Midna, is this your doing?” He asked, unsure of the powers this stranger held.

Midna danced around in the shadows of the trees to make it up to him.

“No,” she shook her head, “that’s dark magic, not Twili. Twili is blue or orange.”

“Wanna see where it goes?”

“I’ve got nothing to lose. Mind if I steal your shadow?”

“What?”

-

A couple hours later, Lon Lon Ranch had another visitor. After Time spoke to Proxi for a while and he explained sadly to his wife that this was a different lost fairy, they started making plans on how to contact Lana or Cia. They would be able to bring Proxi back to her home time.

There was a knock on the door and Malon went to answer it. There, she saw a second fairy, this one a mix of white, yellow, and blue.

“Oh, hello, dear?” She said kindly, “do you need some help.”

“Yup!” The fairy rang, “what year is it?”

“Excuse me?”

“The year,” she repeated, “neither me or my friend know, and he’s too embarrassed to ask.”

She told her the year, “may I ask where your companion is.”

“Friend, not companion,” the fairy corrected, “my companion is missing, my friend is helping me look for them.”

“I understand,” Malon looked at the darkening sky, “would you and your friend like to go in for dinner. It’s getting awfully late, and no one should be looking for someone in the dark.”

“Uh,” the fairy turned around, most likely looking at wherever her friend was, “sure. Thank you, ma’am.”

“My pleasure, my name’s Malon.”

“My name’s Ciela, and this is my friend Link,” she introduced as a boy came out of hiding.

If Malon was holding something, she would’ve dropped it. She was no fool, even though it had been many years, she’d recognize the face of her husband at any age. Ciela’s friend, this Link, looked exactly like Time when he was 17.

“T-thank you, ma’am,” he stuttered nervously, repeating what the fairy said early.

“Of course-uh, come inside,” she opened the door and called out to her husband, “dear, we got another lost fairy, her name is Ciela, and, oh, just come look!”

-

“You’re me, from the future,” Link pointed at Time, “you’re me from the future.”

“Is that really so hard to believe,” Time laughed, “about 20, 27, or 50 years in the future, depending on how you look at it.”

“And we win?” Link gestured to around him, “the kingdom doesn’t look on fire, so I’m assuming we do.”

“Yeah, we win,” he smiled softly.

“Then that’s all that matters. I can’t wait and get back to tell Sheik!”

Malon had to walk out of the room to hide her snorts. She knew all about her husband’s crush on the disguised princess of another time.

“Great,” Ciela whined, “we have two Links and two fairies and none of us are each other’s companions.”

“Maybe there’s more of those portals,” Link offered.

Just then, a portal opened above the table they were sitting at and a small form fell through, plus a few gallons of water.

“What the deku!” Link backed up, hand reaching for his sword.

The kid, thankfully, didn’t break the table as he got up and tried to wring out his clothes. Two fairies were also sputtering and shaking off water.

“Why was there a portal in the ocean!” The yellow fairy yelled, “why did we go through it!”

“Hey, it was fun,” the kid argued and looked embarrassingly at the only real adult in the room, “sorry about the water. I’m Link.”

“Of course you are,” Proxi drawled, “let me guess, these fairies are looking for their partner and so are you.”

“How’d you know?”

Link gave a look to Time, like “is this kid also us?” Time mouthed back no.

“They’re looking for another guy named Link,” the purple fairy explained.

“A specific one,” the yellow fairy added, “but none of you seem to fit the bill. He’s looking for a captain named Tetra.”

“Wait, Tetra?” Ciela piped up, “Link, is that you? It’s me Ciela!”

“Ciela?!” The kid did a double take, “what are you doing outside of the dream?”

“What dream?”

“Oh, sh-“

“Language,” Time interrupted, “also, Tatl, Tael, you are about a year too early and twenty too late if you’re looking for the Hero of Termina.”

Tatl looked at the armor Time was wearing and the sword he wielded. She also looked at Link’s dorky outfit and both of their haircuts.

“Both of you got big.”

“Who are you?”

“You worst nightmare, kid, you’ll be seeing me soon.”

-

Wild walked out of the portal and into a nice house where a lot of blonds and fairies had gathered.

“Another one?” One of the fairies, the blue one, complained, “if you are looking for a fairiy, so help me to Hylia-“

“I’m looking for a wolf,” he stated plainly, “why do you have a dark portal in your closet.”

“Why do you have a differently shaped shadow than your form,” a redhead teased.

“It’s a medical condition.”

-

Four and Tetra ended up finding a portal in the fountain in the town square. Going through it led to a house and Four would’ve felt guilty for bringing in water, if not for the fact that the house was already drenched.

“Short stack!” Tetra shouted immediately and flew to Wind.

“Ghost!” Wind pointed and grinned, “I told you you would die first.”

“In your dreams, this is just a minor setback to life.”

“Why are you a ghost, Miss Tetra?”

“Ciela, what are you doing outside of the dream.”

“What dream? Link mentioned the same thing.”

“Nothing, nothing!”

Why those three spoke, Four turned to a woman with red hair.

“Sorry about that,” he apologized, “I guess that’s my duty done, Tetra just needed to find her friend.”

“It seems our house has turned into a reunion and portal hotspot, it’s all good,” she pat him on the head, “why don’t you stick around Link, someone might be looking for you.”

“How did you know my name?”

“Greetings,” a teenager with scars entered the conversation, “we’re all named Link, so that’s fun.”

“And this is why I go by Four.”

-

Hyrule and Legend were unlucky enough to find their portals at the same time, or at least the portals spat them out at the same time. They both landed on a wet wooden floor of a house in a pile. The bird that had been tormenting Hyrule started to torment Legend instead.

“Oh, hey, Sheerow,” he said dumbfounded and looked at the rest of the people in the room, “anyone missing a robot?”

-

Sky walked in next, he was actually portalled right next to Four.

“Hello, Link and companion who isn’t the Link’s companion,” Four didn’t even look at the newcomer, “welcome to the chaos.”

“Why does he have the Master Sword?” Sky pointed at a boy with ratty hair who was talking to another boy with brown hair.

“Oh,” Four shouted, “Legend, we found Fi’s companion!”

“Thank Farore!”

“Link you annoying little speck,” Ezlo took the time to finally speak up, “you should look at your elders when you speak to them.”

Four’s neck swiveled so fast, “Ezlo?!”

-

Twilight was second to last and he weirdly portalled into the second four, so he walked down the stares. A short boy with a bird hat on his head stared at the wall right behind him.

“Oh mother,” the boy stopped himself from swearing, “Shadow?!”

“Twilight!” Why was Wild here?

It was then when an imp jumped out of Wild’s shadow and jumped over to Twilight.

“I can’t believe you let someone else in your shadow but me!” She said, annoyed. “I have been offended. You, get out of there.”

Twilight could only stare mutely as a boy that looked like the other boy but with dark hair was kicked out of his shadow and Midna replaced him.

What the hell was going on? Midna?!

-

Warriors was a punctual and polite man, but he knew how to show up fashionably late for a party. After a quick call to Lana, he got a portal directly to the location of Navi’s owner and Proxi’s location. They landed outside of a ranch house and they could hear a lot of noise coming from the inside.

“Sounds like a party,” Warriors commented, “are you okay, Miss Navi?”

“Y-yeah,” Navi was shaking for some reason, “I just have a weird feeling. You said this wasn’t my time, but it’s familiar. Why is Link at Lon Lon Ranch?”

Warriors shrugged, “I don’t know, but I’m sure we’ll find who we’re looking for here.”

And he turned the door knob.

Chapter Text

When your sense of gravity is lost, you could fall anywhere.

It doesn’t matter if there’s ground beneath you, because that can disappear in an instant. The ground isn’t always solid, sometimes it’s miles and miles of water that is just waiting for you to fall over the edge of your tiny boat.

On the other hand, you better hold onto the ground for dear life. Find a foothold, weigh yourself with rocks in your pocket, or, gods forbid, try to hold onto another person. You better find an anchor, or else gravity’s going to be lost and you’ll be floating in the air. The sky’s big in your once you realize there’s always more of it than there will ever be of the land.

So, hold on and let go and pray gravity swings in your favor.

Most would say this rational is not rational. This is agoraphobia, they would argue, and is not meant to be believed.

They’ve never had gravity swept up from under their feet.

Still, one must push on.

Everyday, from wake, to sleep, to dream, to repeat, Legend would step everywhere warily. The ground was to be tread lightly, one hand on a sword in case he needed to latch onto something. Walk under the shade of trees, feigning the need to be cool if need be, to have a safety net in case he started going up.

If he felt that gravity was loser than normal on a given day, he would travel closer to the others. If it was really bad, he’d walk with Wolfie, pretending to pet the mutt, as if he wasn’t holding on for dear life. If it was the worst case scenario and he was on the verge of collapsing from fear, he would spin him arm around Hyrule’s and not let go.

Luckily, no one ever talked to him when he was in that mood.

Walk steady, he would tell himself, walk forward.

If Zelda was here, she would tell him that everything was real and right where it was supposed to be, but he believed that once before. He believed, lived, and loved a world where gravity forgot itself and dissolved everything. If he believed then, what’s stopping him from believing now?

Today was a really bad day.

He didn’t remember waking up, which was never good for his sanity. All he remembered was nothing followed by Wild handing him breakfast. Wild even noticed the change in his attitude once reality, or fantasy, came to him.

“Finally awake?” Wild joked.

If only he knew. If only he knew, because then he could tell Legend that, yes, he was awake. This was all real and nothing was going to disappear.

“Yeah,” the words were dry in his mouth, “sorry, just feel-a bit light headed.”

“Take it easy, Leg.”

“Don’t call me that,” he spat out.

Wild grinned, “see, you’re good enough to talk back! See you later, Legend.”

“Later...”

Legend ate his breakfast in silence, trying to take in every minuscule detail of the bowl, the spoon, and the food.

The bowls were from Wild’s time, crafted by someone in Hateno, yet painted in Kakariko. Tiny flowers, Silent Princesses if he recalled correctly, lined the inside.

The spoon was one of Sky’s, carved to look like a miniature sword. He must’ve been bored the day of carving it to give it a more unique look. Legend fiddled with it in his fingers to feel the individual grooves.

The food itself was amazing, as always. There wasn’t really much to say about it other than it was good. Legend was never good at describing food anyway.

Every detail was something to latch onto. He thought that after breakfast he had calmed down.

They started walking soon after, looking for another portal or town. They still didn’t know where or when they were, and, honestly, it was getting a little annoying.

“That last town said it’s been peaceful for eons,” Four was talking to Time, “so I don’t think anywhere else will help up.”

“There is the possibility of a localized legend,” Time refuted, “if you came to my time looking for a hero, you would only find me by asking a Goron, Malon, or the Queen.”

“That could be true, we’ll just have to see. I wonder if they have any Minish, still.”

Their words faded out of existence and Legend stared at his feet. He thought each step out, which might’ve made his stride a little wonky, but it was real.

“-ou think, Legend?” A voice entered his realm of hearing. “Legend?”

“Huh?” He looked up to see Four speaking to him.

“I said, what do you think?” He asked, “you’re the most traveled, where do you go to look for history of a new land?”

“I-“ Why did it feel like rocks were in his mouth and steel clamped his lips shut? “Time travel.”

His words came out in a mumble. Thankfully, Four seemed to understand him.

“Unless Time’s feeling generous,” Warriors joined the conversation, “I don’t think that’s an option.”

Time laid a hand over his ocarina, “after what Wind shared, I won’t be using this unless necessary. Don’t want to risk nine heroes causing new timelines like me and the Queen did.”

Legend nodded in agreement. He already had to divert a time paradox in Holodrum...or was that Labrynna? Holodrum was the country with Nayru, right? Or was he thinking of Hytopia somehow?

Fuzz filled his mind as he tried to grab onto information from the past. Was he just misremembering because of all of his quests happened in such a short time span? Or was it that those adventures were dreams, meant to be forgotten? Or could this prove that he was dreaming now and didn’t have full brain function to recall his adventures?

He was snapped out of his thoughts when his foot collided with something solid. He stumbled and trip over himself, falling onto his face into the coarse dirt.

Ow.

“Legend, are you okay?” Someone grabbed his arms.

“‘m fine!” He swatted them away, trying to clear the mental smoke from his eyes, and stood up, hoping no one noticed how he held tightly to the small patches of grass, even pulling a few pieces up with him.

“Okay,” it was Sky apparently who helped him, “what was that, if I may ask?”

Legend’s glare said no, you cannot ask. Sky backed away soon after.

So today was not a good day for recollections, he decided. He tried to nonchalantly walk over to below the trees. By the time he felt somewhat more comfortable, he was scraping bark with his shoulders, but he didn’t mind.

And they continued on, Legend’s fall forgotten.

The wind whistled past and some birds were heard calling in the distance, but Legend didn’t dare look up to see them. He recognized by sound alone, though, that they were sparrows.

“Hey, I see a town!” Wind cried, he was looking through his telescope down the path.

There were cheers in the group at the excitement of finally being able to stop walking for hours on end. Legend decided to wait and see if this was a good thing.

The town, they found out, was a small trading port, a river running by and around it. There were a few shops and even a stable, making it reminiscent of Wild’s Hyrule.

This is okay, Legend allowed himself to smile and he leaned against a building’s wall underneath an awning.

“They got a Beedle here!”

Oh, no.

“Oh, Hylia, and a Tingle. Why is he in every Hyrule?”

Oh, Hylia, no.

“Time, look! Another Malon, though she looks around Wind’s age.”

Never mind, this was very bad. Legend punched the wall behind his back, allowing the pain to ground him. He tried not think about what he knew of dreams, but he couldn’t help it.

In dreams, probably every person you would see would be based on people you’ve met in real life. That’s why the Wind Fish’s owl looked so much like the fairy tale book of the Fallen Hero. That’s why Tarin looked like the farmer south of Castletown.

(Legend could only pray that, while Marin shared passing traits with Malon down the road, he didn’t recognize her face completely and that meant she was somehow real.)

That’s why Malon was in every time period. That’s why there was always a Beedle, a Tingle, and a Postman. That’s why there’s always a princess, a villain, or a hero. That’s why all of this was just a stupid dream that would evaporate into nothing and gravity would pull in on itself and destroy everything and-

Legend was hyperventilating.

He clutched one hand to his chest and another into the brick of the wall, trying to grab even a millimeter of the edge of it. He leaned his weight into the back of his heels and slammed his eyes shut.

If he didn’t open his eyes, he didn’t have to see the familiar faces of people who didn’t know him. If he kept his eyes closed, who’s to say whether he was up or down or sideways or anyways. He couldn’t feel the ground or the air, the only thing that was real was the wall behind him, and he was waiting for that to crumble into dust.

“Is that Dampe? He seriously is always a gravekeeper, huh.”

He knew Dampe. He knew him as the one who watched over the sanctuary whenever the priest was away. He also knew him as the dungeon maker on the island. One was real, and one was fake, or neither were real, or who knows?

He felt something warm and heavy bump up against his legs. Through the pain, Legend opened his eyes a smidge to see Wolfie looking up at him with concerned.

If Legend could speak, he’d say something like “stupid mutt,” all the while thanking whoever raised Twilight to be so kind, giving, and trustworthy. Right now he could only reach out a hand to trail the fur on the back of the beast.

Like a drop of water on a piece of paper, Legend’s awareness and his comfortability spread slowly and oddly. With Wolfie as a crutch, he was comfortable enough to walk around the town with the others.

“Where’s the ranch hand?” He heard Warriors asked.